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Two Leggings:

THE MAKING OF A CROW WARRIOR

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Two Leggings:

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THE MAKING OF A CROW WARRIOR

PETER NABOKOV

BASED ON A FIELD MANUSCRIPT

PREPARED BY WILLIAM WILDSCHUT

FOR THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN,

HEYE FOUNDATION

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY

York Established 1834

All maps in this book are by Donald Pitcher.

Copyright 1967 by Peter Nabokov

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the
reproduction or utilization of this work in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, and in any information storage and
retrieval system is forbidden without the written
permission of the publisher.

L.C. Card 67-15412

Designed by Elliot S. Epstein

Manufactured in the United States of America
by Vail-Ballou Press, Inc.

First Printing

In Memory

of William <A, Ttarkejj Sr.
and William Wildschut

Foreword

To the modern traveler by air or auto over or across the grassy
plains of Montana east of the Rocky Mountains this sparsely settled
ranching and farming country looks like a serene and peaceful land.
It may be difficult for him to realize that until less than ninety years
ago this was a vast theater of warfare in which more than a dozen
Indian tribes of buffalo-hunting nomads only a few generations re-
moved from the Stone Age waged relentless intertribal wars. Their
many small war parties raided distant enemy camps to steal horses or
take scalps. And sometimes rival parties met on the open plains or in
river or creek bottoms in bitterly fought, small-scale battles. Even
though pitched battles with several hundred Indians on a side were
few, war losses were frequent and heavy.

A number of aged veterans of these wars survived until recent years.
Around evening camp or cabin fires these elderly men told and retold
their war experiences to their children and grandchildren. Yet few
far too few of their real life stories, rich in vivid detail, have been
faithfully translated from the oral literature of the illiterate Indians
to the pages of white men's books. These old warriors were of many
tribes Assiniboin, Blackfoot, Blood, Cheyenne, Cree, Flathead, Gros
Ventre, Kutenai, Nez Perce, Piegan, Pend d'Oreille, Shoshoni, and
Sioux as well as Crow. But many of the most dramatic episodes were
related by old Crow warriors.

The Crow Indians of the middle Yellowstone Valley had a long
and proud warrior tradition. They were never a large tribe. But dur-
ing the late years of the eighteenth century they wrested this fine
big-game hunting ground richest in natural resources of any portion
of the entire Upper Missouri region from the Shoshoni. Through-
out the first decades of the nineteenth century they fought to hold
their country and to protect themselves from repeated incursions by

vii

the many enemy tribes who surrounded them. Caught between the
powerful Sioux on the east and the aggressive Blackfoot tribes on the
north, the Crow were in the most desperate military position of any
Upper Missouri tribe. From the time of George Catlin (in 1832)
white traders who knew the Crow solemnly predicted that these
Indians would be annihilated by their more numerous enemies. So
frequent were Blackfoot and Sioux raids during mid-century that fur
traders abandoned their fortified posts in the Crow country. Even
the hardiest wilderness traders could not be persuaded to operate a
post in the dangerous land of the Crows at that time. During the
i86os the westward-advancing Sioux did dislodge the Crow from the
easternmost portion of their Montana homeland. But the United States
Army helped the Crow to regain much of their lost territory during
the hard-fought Sioux Wars.

So the Crow Indians retreated for a time but they survived as a
people. They never gave up their struggle. Nor were these stout-
hearted warriors content to fight only defensive actions. Nineteenth-
century Crow war parties were seen as far south as the Arkansas, on
the banks of which they won one of their greatest battles with the
Cheyenne, and as far north as the country of the Blood tribe of the
Blackfoot in Alberta. They crossed the Rockies to harass the Flat-
head and Shoshoni in their homelands, and they struck the camps of
the mighty Sioux east of the Black Hills.

This constant struggle for survival against great odds in more than
a hundred years of intertribal warfare did not fail to leave its stamp
upon the customs and the character of the Crow people. Through-
out the first half of the nineteenth century they steadfastly refused
white man's liquor and chose to exchange their beaver pelts and finely
dressed buffalo robes for firearms, ammunition, and other substantial
and useful goods. To increase their numbers they adopted boys and
women captured in their wars. Although their young men stole horses
from the mountain men, the Crow Indians were known as people
who did not kill white traders and trappers as the Blackfoot did. They
adopted several traders into their tribe who actively assisted them in
their wars against other tribes. Among the Crows alone, the Sun Dance
was performed as a sacred ceremony to help warriors gain revenge
upon their enemies. Even the laxness of sexual morality among the
Crow might be explained as a form of release from the constant ten-
sions of a way of life in which life itself might be snuffed out at any
moment.

Vlll

This constant straggle for survival also left its mark upon the in-
dividual Crow. Fur traders observed that no other Indians of the Up-
per Missouri were so well dressed or bragged of their tribal affiliation
as frequently or as vociferously as the Crow. And when a tall Crow
warrior informed them, "I am a Crow," they knew by his bearing
and tone of voice that they were in the presence of a man of courage
as well as pride.

Two Leggings, the teller of the story you are about to read, was
such a man. He was above all else a Crow warrior. And his story tells
us quite as much of tribal values that motivated and guided his actions
as it does of his personal escapades. The successful warriors of his
tribe were his boyhood heroes. And in his doggedly persistent efforts
to win a name for himself by risking his life on repeated war parries
over a period of more than two decades, he reflected the strong cul-
tural compulsion upon the males of his tribe to seek to emulate or sur-
pass the brave deeds of older Crow heroes. So strongly did Two Leg-
gings react to these cultural stimuli that repeated failures and limited
successes did not discourage him. He was one of the last Crow In-
dians to abandon the warpath. Significantly also, Two Leggings
ended his story with an account of his last war experience. For him
it was not the extermination of the buffalo but the end of intertribal
warfare that marked the demise of the traditional Crow way of life.

Throughout Two Leggings' story runs the persistent theme of his
quest for religious power. It reflects the tribal faith as well as his per-
sonal belief in the ability of supernatural helpers, whose aid was ob-
tained through traditionally proper acts, to protect and to assist the
individual warrior. It was a strong faith that gave Crow men hope
and made the harshness of their life tolerable. Two Leggings' repeated
efforts to obtain supernatural power through his own quests for
visions, and his settlement for power transferred to him by older
and more successful men, reflect both the Crow religious ideal and
the culturally acceptable alternative. His war experiences illustrate
again and again the reactions of a Crow man of faith to particular
critical situations. They reveal the fundamental roles of war medi-
cines and war bundles in the conduct of Crow warfare. And they
show us the impossibility of understanding this warfare without a
basic knowledge of the tribal religious beliefs and customs.

The reader who has not known aged, illiterate Plains Indians of
Two Leggings' generation may marvel at the ability of this elderly
man to recall seemingly minute details of his youth and young man-

\ ix

hood. But those who have heard other elderly Indians recall their
first-hand experiences have learned that illiteracy had its compensa-
tions. Forced to rely upon his memory, the intelligent Indian devel-
oped this faculty to a remarkable degree. And repeated retelling of
experiences over a period of years helped to fix the details in his mind.
Nevertheless, Two Leggings' vivid memories would have been lost
to us had not William Wildschut recognized that the personal expe-
riences this aged Crow Indian related to him comprised a primary
source for an understanding of Crow Indian life which was worth
preserving for future generations. We are indebted to Mr. Wildschut
for his foresight in recognizing this fact, as well as for his painstaking
care in transferring Two Leggings' verbal reminiscences to paper.
Peter Nabokov has not only edited the Wildschut manuscript, but
he has provided a series of introductions which relate the adventures
of Two Leggings more closely to the experience of the entire Crow
tribe. And so these three Two Leggings, William Wildschut, and
Peter Nabokov have combined their knowledge and talents to pre-
sent us with a book that the general reader should find both fasci-
nating and understandable. At the same time the book is a contribu-
tion to biography, to history, and to ethnology.

John C. Ewers
Senior Anthropologist
Smithsonian Institution

Introduction

A FAMOUS MAN, whose life has figured in events of historical moment,
writes his autobiography to clarify those events, give personal in-
terpretations of their significance, and detail his own participation in
them. Everything he describes even the most trivial recollections
will shed light on personal characteristics and public choices which
affected history.

The ordinary man, whose existence is far removed from centers of
power, is rarely prompted to recall his days. He finds it hard to un-
derstand why his life story should have an audience. While men of
renown have always documented their experiences, or storytellers
have done it for them, only recently have representatives of a culture
been asked to relate the rhythms of their lives. The request has come
from anthropologists, whose primary concern is with revealing the
social behavior of a people, not individual peculiarities. A "great" man,
to the extent of his influence, becomes supra-cultural and is only of
specialized use to them.

Two Leggings' story is a hybrid of these approaches. Intended by
both its subject and William Wildschut, the Museum of the Ameri-
can Indian's field researcher who transcribed the original material, to
be the first, more traditional variety, its real value lies in the picture
it yields of key motivations in Crow male life.

Two Leggings was only a minor leader. His war record was not
spectacular. Despite the frequent "Chief" title applied by Wildschut
and others, he does not appear to have risen past the rank of pipe-
holder, roughly the equivalent of a platoon lieutenant. None of his
fasts yielded the life-guiding medicine which he describes as the pre-
requisite for public success. And his eventual resort to obtaining such
important medicine property through the humbling and second-rate
procedure of purchase is tantamount to a confession of personal
failure.

To compensate for the lack of great battle recountings Wildschut

filled his manuscript with Two Leggings' elaborate, hopeful prepa-
rations for such feats. His rise to the rank he finally attains earns him
many of the attributes of an establishment cog lack of imagination,
destroyed individuality, and increased dependence on ritual. Two
Leggings' life story is about a man whose ambition is completely cul-
turally defined and, what is rarely the case with an extraordinary
man, culturally predictable. What Wildschut managed to get on
paper was the process of this ambition being instilled and the process
of the sanctioning which formed its release.

Two Leggings divulges no surprising ethnological data. All the
ceremonies have been documented in detail in Robert H. Lowie's
comprehensive monographs for the Museum of Natural History. Nor
is any startling historical information revealed. Two Leggings' ad-
ventures seem quite insular, in marked contrast with many of his
Crow contemporaries who served as scouts for the United States mili-
tary during important campaigns and who touched pioneer life more
intimately. *~

The book is a series of an old man's backward glances. People alter
events in retelling. Often this is not dishonesty but the memory pick-
ing out what it enjoys remembering, how it likes to think of what has
happened. The choice memory makes, what constitutes the complete-
ness of a story, would be different for a Crow than for a member of
our culture, and that choice is in evidence throughout Two Leggings'
recollections. They are the Crow idealization of a coming-of-age
struggle singularly parallel to coming-of-tribal-rnembership. Two
Leggings believes, from his hoary vantage point where he thinks he
can survey the totality of his existence, that he is seeing a Crow leg-
end brought to life, Crow truths borne out. His earlier raids were un-
satisfactory, he is convinced, because he had not gone through pre-
scribed cultural channels, and whatever problems arose to disturb the
success of his later raids could be chalked up to a faulty performance
of his mentor's formulas for successful war parties. He sees himself
as having paid dearly for once fabricating a buffalo-hunting medi-
cine and remembers the ultimate gratification at discovering that there
are no shortcuts to divine approbation and that one must bow to
earthly authority in order to succeed.

With Two Leggings remarking so often to Wildschut how the
disrespectful young Crows never harken to the old ways, we have
watched the entire cycle of a Crow life and have witnessed at
close range the mechanics of the control that tribal membership en-
tails.

xu

A Dutch-born businessman, William Wildschut made his home in
Billings, Montana, from the fall of 1918 to June 1929. During this
time he conducted various ethnological projects among the Crow
Indians. The Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, has
published two compilations of his collections and notes, Crow Indian
Medicine Bundles and Crow Indian Beadwork, both edited by John
C. Ewers.

After meeting the River Crow Two Leggings in the summer of
1919 at a return celebration for three Crow World War I veterans,
Wildschut began making periodic visits to the old man's home seven
miles south of Hardin along the Bighorn River for the purpose of
writing his life story. Their contact and this project were maintained
until Two Leggings' death in April 1923.

Usually these talks were held at Two Leggings' homestead, a house
made of timbers from old Fort Custer and a tipi along the river where
Two Leggings preferred to spend his time. Mrs. L. A. Taylor, Wild-
schut's sister-in-law, who occasionally aided as a stenographer, re-
members three week-long winter sessions during which Wildschut
rented a hotel room for Two Leggings.

Sometimes Bull Does Not Fall Down, a childhood companion of
Two Leggings, would join these sessions, verifying incidents and en-
joying memories. Often Wildschut brought steaks for his hosts and
candy for their children. Each talk began with the customary smoke.

As his interpreter, Wildschut employed Jasper Long, a Crow In-
dian of St. Xavier. Mrs. Ellen D. Wildschut, the author's widow,
thinks he might also have used Thomas H. Leforge, the famous
"White Crow Indian." An interview lasted the duration of a single
episode or until, after some three hours of continuous talking, Two
Leggings grew tired. Since Wildschut did not speak Crow, the Indian
would talk to Long, complementing his narration with the illustra-
tive sign language which Wildschut apparently could understand.
When Mrs. Taylor assisted, she took Long's translation verbatim in
shorthand. When Wildschut was alone she believes he wrote as rap-
idly as possible. To me, Long alleged that he wrote out an English
version for Wildschut, and on occasion conducted his own inter-
views which he then mailed for a fee.

Later Mrs. Wildschut could not recall how much time usually
elapsed between interview and rewriting Wildschut would work
this material into the original story, being careful not to distort or
change any meanings. While Wildschut stated that he read back his
stories to Two Leggings until there was agreement, Mrs. Taylor could

Xlll

provide no indication as to how this was accomplished. The episodes
had been related out of chronological order, which was imposed on
the final draft.

A copy of the finished 48o~page manuscript accompanied the other
Wildschut papers in the archives of the Museum of the American In-
dian. Although Wildschut had hoped it would be published as a sepa-
rate book, he privately expressed dismay that the public had lost in-
terest in American Indians.

In the fall of 1962, Dr. Frederick J. Dockstader, the Museum's di-
rector, told me of the manuscript. After reading it, I submitted a let-
ter of suggestions concerning its preparation for publication as a
Museum monograph. Two years later I handed him a rewritten 280-
page version. An appendix on page 213 describes and illustrates my
treatment of the original work. Dr. Dockstader believed the book
deserved more general circulation than a Museum publication would
receive and generously located a publisher.

Dates for Two Leggings' birth, as for all early Indian life on the
fringes of pioneer society, are not precise. Wildschut maintained that
Two Leggings was seventy-six years old when their talks began in
1919. This would make him eighty years old when he died, according
to Wildschut, on April 23, 1923. Two Leggings' obituary in the
Billings Gazette states that he was seventy-six years old when he died,
which would place his birth date in 1847. In Volume IV of Edward
S. Curtis' The North American Indian, p. 207, Two Leggings is re-
corded as having been born about 1848. Finally, Two Leggings' in-
dividual history card in the Crow Indian Agency files gives his birth
year as 1851 and his death date as April 20, 1923. His mother is re-
corded as Strikes At Different Camps, his father as No Wife. Al-
though Wildschut has Two Leggings remembering his father's name
as Four, this discrepancy could be an example of either the common
ownership by a man of two or more names or of the wide spectrum
of relations classified as "father."

In a hearing held September 9, 1924, to determine the claims to Two
Leggings' holdings, Ties Up Her Bundle, Two Leggings' wife, testi-
fied that they had married around 1880 when she was fifteen years
old. They never had any children but adopted Red Clay Woman be-
cause she was the daughter of his wife's sister, When she gave birth
soon afterward they adopted her son, Sings To The Sweat Lodge,
also named Amos Two Leggings. Ties Up Her Bundle stated that
she knew of only one brother of Two Leggings, Chases The Enemy
xiv

Wearing A Coyote Hide On His Back, certainly the Wolf Chaser of
the manuscript, and said that he had long been dead.

In August 1962, I searched out Amos Two Leggings. A tall man,
quiet and dignified in spotless cowboy garb, he had nothing but warm
memories of his adopted father and through an interpreter related
a few as we drove to the location of Two Leggings' homestead. Noth-
ing remained but some rusty agricultural hardware buried in high
grass. When he located the site of Two Leggings' sweat lodge he
recalled being sent to fetch the old man and finding him dead inside.

Other Crows wondered why I was bothering with such a minor
leader, a man who had never achieved the stature of a Bellrock or a
Plenty Coups. The Billings Gazette obituary reported: "Although
Plenty Coups was the ranking chief since the death of Medicine Crow,
Two Leggings had equal influence although both as a rule worked
in harmony." However, Crow informants implied that their relation-
ship often went against this rule, understandable when one views Two
Leggings' unrelenting concern with status and Plenty Coups' estab-
lished fame. In addition, they belonged to rival warrior societies.

Most writers on the Crow of Two Leggings' time have given him
passing mention. In Curtis there is this abbreviated biography of Two
Leggings: "Having no great medicine derived from his own vision, he
was adopted into the Tobacco order by Bull Goes Hunting who
gave him his medicine of a fossil or a stone, roughly shaped like a
horse facing both ways. Two Leggings thus became a war-leader. In
pursuing some Piegans who had captured a woman in the Absaroke
camp opposite Ft. C. F. Smith on the Bighorn, he counted dashke
[coup] and captured a gun by the same act a high honor. Led two
parties against the Hunkpapa Sioux, each time taking scalps. Cap-
tured fifty horses from the Yanktonai at Ft. Peck and with Deaf Bull
led a party that brought back eighty horses from the Teton Sioux."
The North American Indian, Vol. IV, 1909, p. 207.

Like Curtis, Lowie noted Two Leggings' relationship with his
medicine father: "Looks-at-a-bull's-penis made medicine for Two-
leggings, asking him to choose between killing a person and captur-
ing horses. Two-leggings chose the latter and brought two horses,
one of them a buckskin." Religion of the Crow Indians, p. 390.

Thomas H. Leforge, whose memoirs as a Crow squaw man were
recorded by Dr. Thomas B. Marquis, first came in contact with his
future hosts in the spring of 1865 when "Two Leggings and some
other heads of families had their buffalo-skin tepee lodges pitched

xv

near the village [Bozeman] ." Memoirs of a White Crow Indian,
1928, p. 14. But he does not mention Two Leggings again.

During a visit to the Crow reservation in September 1965, I was
told a story about Two Leggings in his later years. It was related a
bit defiantly, as if this book would put an unworthy man on a pedes-
tal. In fairness I promised to include it.

When Hardin, the largest town on the reservation, planned its first
rodeo, all the Crow chiefs were invited. Accordingly Two Leggings
showed up in full dress. But the gatekeeper refused to admit him be-
cause he lacked an invitation. Two Leggings argued that he was a
chief, but the keeper was adamant. Weeping in the street outside the
rodeo grounds, Two Leggings made a curse. According to my friends,
the Hardin rodeo has been plagued with rainy days ever since.

The distant ancestors of Two Leggings and his people were a
Siouan-speaking group who migrated out of the northern Midwest
to meet the Mandan Indians. Soon named the Hidatsa, this tribe
evolved an origin myth in which their founders climbed a grapevine
out of the bowels of the earth and emerged from the waters of Devil's
Lake, in present-day North Dakota, before traveling westward. At
the mouth of Knife River the Mandans taught the new arrivals how
to build circular, semisubterranean earth lodges and helped them
cultivate corn, squash, pumpkins, and black beans, a diet augmented
by sporadic hunting. A trivial incident after such a hunt gave the
Crows their separate identity. An argument between the wives of two
chiefs, quite possibly clan leaders, over the contents of a buffalo's
stomach blossomed into a major schism. Following a brief battle, one
leader, No Vitals, led his people farther westward to territory north
of the Missouri in present-day Montana. Conjectures differ widely
as to the possible date of this separation, the fur trader Edwin Thomp-
son Denig placing it as recently as 1776, Lowie as long as five hundred
years ago, and Curtis, by a backward count based on the average dura-
tion of a head chief's term of office, dating it around 1676. Crow acqui-
sition of horses probably did not antedate the separation but very likely
occurred soon afterward, easing their transformation from a horti-
cultural people to buffalo-following nomads. The prominent an-
thropologist-historian of the Upper Missouri, John C. Ewers, feels
these events occurred within the eighteenth century.

The secessionists were to be known by their Missouri-dwelling
kinsmen as They Who Refused The Paunch, and came to call them-
selves the "Absaroke," or Children Of The Large-Beaked Bird, a
xvi

species no longer seen in their country. From this came the French
mistranslation, gens de corbeaux, hence Crow.

Once they had moved south of the Missouri it is uncertain whether
as Shoshoni conquerors or Blackfeet victims they established hunt-
ing rights to the land they hold today. As one chief is reported to have
described this country during an early treaty conference: "I have
but one tipi. It has but four poles. It is held to the ground by big rocks.
My east lodge pole touches the ground at the Black Hills, my south,
the ground at the headwaters of the Wind River, my west, the snow-
capped Absaroke and Beartooth Range, the north lodge pole resting
on the Bearpaw Mountains."

Possibly a group followed No Vitals' secessionists to become the
second Crow band; otherwise the division between River Crow, or
Black Lodges, and the more numerous Mountain Crow, or Many
Lodges, occurred after the tribe was in its new territory. The former
usually hunted north of the Missouri; the latter, together with their
offshoot, the Kicked In The Bellies, roamed between the Bighorn
Mountains and the Wind River in present-day Wyoming.

Around this country of high mountains, rolling plateaus, fertile
valleys, and deep canyons, ranged numerous other tribes with whom
the Crows had relationships of varying amity and hostility. The Crow
legend of the Crow/Hidatsa severance ends with the resumption of
peaceful relations. To the northeast these Earth Lodges, in the trans-
lation of the Crow name (Hidatsa, also called Gros Ventres), lived
with the Lodges At The Extreme End (Mandans). From the north-
west the Crows were beset by the three Blackfeet bands. Also to the
north dwelt The Hairy Noses (Atsina, known as Prairie Gros
Ventres) and the Yellow Legs (Assiniboines). Westward the Crows
alternately traded with and stole from the Poor Lodges (Flatheads),
the Grass Lodges (Shoshonis), and the Pierced Noses (Nez Perces).
Southward they encountered the Black Lodges (Utes), the Striped
Feather Arrows (Cheyennes), and the Many Tattoos (Arapahoes).
But from the east came their greatest enemies, They That Cut Off
Our Heads, the fearsome Teton Sioux.

The sons of the French fur trader Pierre G. V. La Verendrye ap-
pear to have been the first white men to see the newcomers. On Sep-
tember 18, 1742, Mandan guides led them to a people they named
"Beaux Hommes," believed to be the Crows.

A description of the Yellowstone River, written by the fur trader
Jean Baptiste Trudeau in 1796, told of a Canadian trader, one Menard,
who had visited "the nation of the Crow, a numerous people," also in

XVJl

Mandan company. A decade later the first account of Crow life was
written by the Northwest Company fur trader Francois Larocque.
Having traveled with the tribe for two and a half months during the
summer of 1805, he recorded such features of their culture as no-
madic patterns and their attachment to medicine bundles. From then
on the Crow country saw commercial activity. At the junction of
the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers the enterprising Manuel Lisa
built the first Crow trading post in 1807. After passing into the hands
of the Missouri Fur Company in 1809, it was abandoned in the sum-
mer of 1 8 u. A second Missouri Fur Company post was built on this
same site in 1822 but folded a year later. -*-~

Once he had purchased the Columbia Fur Company in 1827, Pierre
Chouteau greatly expanded the operations of his American Fur Com-
pany. In 1832 his field agent, Alexander McKenzie, built their first
Crow post, Fort Cass, three miles below the mouth of the Bighorn
River. From there the Crows were paid to annoy the competition,
the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, which had enjoyed good rela-
tions with the Crows. In 1835, the same year that Fort Cass was aban-
doned, the American Fur Company built its second post, Fort Van
Buren, near the mouth of the Tongue River. Eight years later it was
abandoned. A third post was erected by this company in 1839, op-
posite the mouth of the Rosebud River. Before it too was abandoned,
the Missouri Fur Company built its final Crow post, Fort Sarpy,
which stood five miles below the mouth of the Bighorn River until
1860. But Blackfeet and Sioux harassment kept the Crows dissatisfied
with these trading centers. Desirous of the fine Crow robes, the com-
panies found the most fruitful trading method was to send represen-
tatives with small amounts of goods to travel with the tribal bands.

In 1864, when the Bozeman trail was blazed to the gold country of
western Montana, three military forts were spaced across the Crow
country, one the Fort C. F. Smith mentioned by Two Leggings.

After Larocque's entries, Crow life continued to be written about
by fur traders and other travelers. Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neu-
wied's record of his 1832-34 western journey included descriptions
of the Crow villages, their chiefs Long Hair and Rotten Belly, and
the Crow warrior societies. A mulatto named James Beclcwourth,
who had lived with the Crows between 1820 and 1830, had his mem-
oirs published in 1856. While flagrantly exaggerating his own exploits,
Beckwourth presented an authentic picture of the military aspect of
Crow life. During the winter of 1855-56 Edwin Thompson Denig
wrote "Of the Crow Nation," based on two decades of familiarity
xviii

with the tribe during their visits to Fort Union. As a section of Hs
Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri, this work devoted itself
to those historical and cultural features which were uniquely Crow.
And another fur trader, Robert Meldrum, provided valuable data
on the tribe in 1862 for the journal of "the father of American eth-
nology," Lewis Henry Morgan.

During the first half of the nineteenth century the Crows were not
entirely ignored by the Federal Government. In midsummer 1825,
a year after the establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a peace
commission headed up the Missouri toward the trade center of the
Mandan villages. The resident Mandans and Hidatsa played host to
two Crow delegations, a Mountain Crow band led by Long Hair and
the River Crows under Rotten Belly. But Brigadier-General Atkin-
son's uneasy escort troops marred the occasion by training cannon'
on the visitors' encampment. When the Crows spiked the guns a brawl
ensued. Rotten Belly was not as easily placated as his fellow chief.
Even after singing a medicine song which brought a downpour upon
the Mandans' earthen roofs and rotted their crops, he refused to sign
the first Crow friendship treaty of August 4, 1825.

In this document the Crows recognized fealty to the United States
Government, agreed to remain within its territorial confines, and sub-
mitted to its regulation of all their trade a counter to the strong
British commercial inroads. Finally they would undertake no "private
revenge" but would refer all injustices to the proper authorities. In
return for this surrender of an entire way of life, they were to receive
occasional "acts of kindness." Although these clauses were totally
unrealistic at the time, they would spell the end to Crow freedom half
a century later.

When Secretary of War Lewis Cass attempted in 1834 to de-
fine his Indian agencies and substations with greater geographical
accuracy, he found little information on the diversity, territoriality,
and culture of the northwestern plains tribes. He established a sprawl-
ing "Agency of the Upper Missouri, to include all the Indians and
Indian country west of the State of Missouri, north of the Western
territory."

Until 1851 the Upper Missouri agents limited their annual reports
to redundant, ill-informed, and mildly critical comments on the no-
madic habits of their charges, their proclivity for alcohol (with the
notable exception of the Crows), and their ceaseless intertribal war-
fare. That spring Congress appropriated one hundred thousand dol-

xix

lars for the holding of a great council of "the wild tribes of the
prairie." Assisted by Agent Tom Fitzpatrick and the celebrated mis-
sionary-explorer Father Pierre de Smet, Superintendent D. D. Mitch-
ell managed to gather, on September i, eight to twelve thousand
souls. The Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Snakes, and several Sioux branches
arrived en masse, while the Crows, Arikaras, Gros Ventres, and As-
siniboines were represented by delegations the Cornanches declined
for fear of losing horses to the Crow and Sioux. During the eighteen-
day encampment, .Mitchell wrote: "The different tribes, though
hereditary enemies, interchanged daily visits, both in their sectional
and individual capacities; smoked and feasted together, exchanged
presents; adopted each others' children."

The document signed there established federal right to build roads
and military posts in Indian country, fixed tribal boundaries, and pro-
vided for the annual payment of fifty thousand dollars in goods for
a fifty-year period. When the Senate chopped this to ten years, only
the Crows refused to sign; thus, the treaty was never ratified.

In 1867 M. Siinonin, a French mining expert, copied the translator's
version of Sits In The Middle Of The Land's reply to the Fort Lar-
amie Peace Commission in which he referred to the 1851 document:
"Several years ago the whites came to buy from the Crows the route
to California, which passed by Ft. Laramie. For this route they were
to pay fifty years of indemnities . . . you have not observed the one
[treaty] you signed at Horse Creek." Although the gathering yielded
no new Crow signatures, Simonin concluded in his journal: "They
agreed upon a conference in seven moons, when the grass was green,'
that is, in the calendar of civilized peoples, toward the fifth of June,
1868."

A treaty drawn up on May 7, 1868, at Fort Laramie was quickly
ratified by Congress. It was signed by only the Mountain Crow chiefs,
and the Crows therein relinquished all their lands and accepted a per-
manent reservation extending westward from the one hundred and
seventh meridian to about Yellowstone Park, the Yellowstone River
being the northern and western limits and the Wyoming line the
southern. Besides designating the construction of an agency complex,
the treaty's twelve articles dealt with encouraging the Crow to farm
and with compulsory schooling for Crow children, and stipulated the
distribution of annuity goods.

It took another twenty years for the buffalo to disappear, for inter-
tribal warfare to end, and for the Crows to resign themselves to the
sedentary life. Their agency was moved twice, in 1875 to Absaroke
xx

and In 1884 to its present location a mile from Custer Battlefield on
the Little Bighorn River. Continually the Crows were pressed by
Sioux hostiles and Blackfeet raiders, and it is the feeling of some that
without federal protection they would have been annihilated. Two
Leggings' memories terminate in 1888. After that, "There is nothing
more to tell." The Crow way of life, which had probably lasted for
little more than two hundred years, was over.

In order to place Wildschut's manuscript in the proper historical
and cultural context, I have dipped freely into more volumes than are
listed in the bibliography. Included there are only those works which
focus on the Crow tribe. Without Robert Lowie's extensive work
it would be impossible to interpret much of what Two Leggings re-
calls. The photographs and text in the "Absaroke" half of Volume
IV of Edward S. Curtis' The North American Indian were likewise
invaluable. In person, through his annotated editions of Wildschut
and Denig, and in his own writings, John C. Ewers has given this
layman much-needed guidance. The books of Frank Bird Linderman,
excellent popular accounts of Crow life and legend, also yielded im-
portant comparative material

Dr. Frederick J. Dockstader, Director of the Museum of the Amer-
ican Indian, Heye Foundation, unhesitatingly extended the initial
trust, sustained patience, and constant encouragement which brought
the project to life. To him and his staff, in particular his chief pho-
tographer, Carmelo Guadagno, I am profoundly grateful.

On the Crow reservation I am indebted to Joseph Medicine Crow,
Chester Medicine Crow, Carl Crooked Arm, Jasper Long, Edison
Real Bird, Eloise Pease, Ray Bear Don't Walk, Otto K Weaver,
Andrew Loveless, and Robert Zang. They either kindly delivered in-
formation, patiently translated it, or graciously provided the facilities
for obtaining it. Amos Two Leggings was killed in an automobile ac-
cident four months after our meeting. I had hoped this book would
have thanked him for his help.

Mr. and Mrs. Laidlaw Williams housed me for two summers, dur-
ing which the bulk of the work was done. For research assistance I
am grateful to Nancy Strowbridge, Mrs. Margaret C. Blaker, and
Sarah Macmillan. Through the four drafts, Ian Lowson, Peter Perrin,
Richard Freis, Hugh Rawson, and William A. Darkey were judicious
readers and editors. I also wish to thank Mrs. L. A. Taylor and Mrs.
Ellen D. Wildschut for remembering those early years when Crows
camped on their living-room floor.

xxi

Contents

Foreword vii

Introduction xl

Two Beggings: The ^Making

of a Crow ^Warrior i

Selected bibliography 198

199

^Appendix 213

Index 218

MAPS

Crow hunting and roaming territory during Two Leggings' early

years, xxvi

Yellowstone and Bighorn River basins, the Crow heartland, xxvii

PHOTOGRAPHS

(following page $$)
Two Leggings in 1919, wearing pipeholder's war shirt

Sees The Living Bull, Crow medicine man
Crow tipis along the Yellowstone River

Crow representatives at first agency near Livingston, Montana
Two Belly during 1879 v " ls *t to Washington

Crooked Arm

Crow treaty delegation, 1872

Bull Does Not Fall Down

Medicine Crow

Spotted Horse

Two Leggings' first war medicine bundle

Crow Tobacco Society procession

Frame of Tobacco Society adoption lodge

Doll that White On The Neck tore down during Sun Dance

xxiv

Doll used by Two Leggings during first Sun Dance

Rattle, scalp ornament, and whistle from Show His Face's Sun Dance

bundle

Skunk-skin, apron, and raw-hide container from Show His Face's
Sun Dance bundle

Big Shoulder

Hunts The Enemy

Medicine sweat lodge of 104 willows

Common sweat-lodge frame

Braided Tail medicine bundle

Sees The Living Bull's medicine of coyote-head moccasin

Hairy Wolf
Long Otter

Other Bull, Old Horn, Old Coyote, Old Jackrabbit and Two Leggings

Two Leggings shortly before his death

XXV

Two Leggings:

THE MAKING OF A CROW WARRIOR

Chapter One

In 1844, within a tipi pitched along the banks of the

Bighorn River, a woman named Strikes At Different Camps

got down on her knees, gripped two stakes, and spread her

thighs to give birth.

One of her attendants was known to have received a dream

telling how to mix rubbing herbs and concoct root beverages

which relieved pain and hastened delivery. This woman measured

off three fingers on the wet umbilical cord and sliced it. With

the brown baby at her breast, the mother was handed dried

buffalo meat dipped in fat At that moment Four, the father, like

all men forbidden to approach the tipi, was selecting the

midwife's payment from his horse herd.

Two days later the mother heated a steel awl and pierced
the baby's earlobes, leaving a greased stick in the openings.

Four days after birth, during a momentary halt on

their journey to Fort Union, Four invited a revered fellow

member of the Whistling Waters clan to become the name

father. After covering the baby's face with sacred red

paint, this man lifted him four times while Four held smoking

bear root to his wincing eyes. Then, referring to some sacred

person in a long-ago dream, this man named the baby Big Crane.

MY MOTHER TOLD ME that when I was a few days old x our camp
moved to where the Elk River flows into the Big River. My father
traded for gunpowder from the trader there and when he came home
spread it close to the fire to explain its use to my mother. It exploded,
giving him such bad burns on his head and chest that he soon died.

i

After my mother died my older brother, Wolf Chaser, cared for
me. In those days I was called Big Crane. I was poor, my clothes were
always ragged, and I seldom wore moccasins.

My earliest memory is of our tipis pitched along both banks of the
Elk River below the present town of Miles City. One day my brother
asked me to join him on a visit across the river. After staying a few
days we left to visit the trader at the mouth of Elk River.

My brother had given me a bow and some small arrows and on this
trip taught me to shoot grouse, rabbits, and prairie dogs. With his
full-sized bow he killed a buffalo and showed me how to boil meat
without a kettle. Digging a hole he placed a piece of green hide over
it and staked it down, allowing enough slack so that the hide would
touch the bottom and sides when filled. After pouring water into the
hide sack he built a fire in which he heated large stones until they
were red hot. Carrying them with a forked stick, he dropped them
in. He kept replacing the cooled stones with new hot ones.

When we arrived at the trader's I remember the store seemed
strange to me. I could not understand how anyone could live in such
a stuffy place with such a low roof.

In those days our tribe had three divisions: Sore Tail led the Black
Lodges, Red Bear the Many Lodges, and Grey Dog the Kicked In
The Bellies. Long Horse was head chief of all the Crows. At this store
we met some men of the Black Lodges and my brother decided to
visit their camp.

It must have been close to snow-melting time because I remember
Wolf Chaser warning me to keep off the ice in the rivers. We had
brought no provisions; game seemed everywhere and the Black Lodges
were only a few days away. But we were unlucky and did not kill a
deer until two days later when the sun was a tipi height in the west.
Immediately we struck sparks on some punk with flint and steel,
added small pieces of dry wood, and soon had a cooking fire.

The next morning two more Crows joined us and we reached the
Black Lodge village two days later.

One day there the men went hunting buffalo and I followed, carry-
ing my bow and arrows and a knife my brother had made from a piece
of iron with a wooden handle bound with buffalo sinew.

I tried to keep the hunters in sight, but all the running and climbing
tired me. Finally they disappeared over a distant ridge.

As I sat down to rest I noticed a horse grazing a short distance away.
I had no rope, so I drove it toward camp. It was tame and after walk-

Ing it into the horse herd I watched it for a long time. If it turned
out to be a stray I could keep it. Until now I had never owned any-
thing. When I told my brother, he could not find any owner's marks
but walked it from tipi to tipi, announcing the way it had been found
and asking everyone to look. I followed, afraid that at any moment
my new property would be claimed. But when no one had spoken
Wolf Chaser told me to care for it and made me a buffalo hide lariat
to picket it.

A few days later Wolf Chaser decided to return to our home camp
on Elk River. My horse was in poor condition and I led it the entire
trip.

I took care of that horse, and my brother trained it to become a
good buffalo chaser. As I grew older he showed me how to shoot
buffalo on the run, singling out fat calves for me to kill.

When I was about thirteen years old, our carnp was on the move
to Bear Creek. When we came to a high bluff with sides and coulees
thick with berry bushes it was decided to stop, because the women
wanted fruit for the winter supply.

As camp was being set up, a man named White ran down the bluff,
calling to the women about to pick to stay there. Scouting along the
ridge he had seen a bear sitting on its haunches and staring at our
traveling camp. Then the bear had sung a medicine song four times,
raising one front paw toward the camp each time and patting the
ground with the other. After scraping up some mud and rubbing it on
its head, it made one streak under each eye. Finally the bear began
dancing and moving its paw toward the camp as if to embrace some-
one. White had run to warn us that this bear would kill anyone who
came near.

Although Black Head, one of our Wise Ones, and some other older
people tried to hold us back, we slipped away. Halfway up the bluff
we saw the bear on top, rising on its haunches as we approached.
When we all shot arrows it ran into the bushes. We thought we had
wounded it and despite the older people's shouts from down below,
we ran into the bushes where it had disappeared. Just as Pretty Hawk
and another boy reached a fallen tree the bear charged out. They
threw off their blankets and started running but Pretty Hawk caught
his foot in the dead branches. The bear hugged him around the shoul-
ders, shook him, and then dragged him off by one arm.

White yelled for us to save our friend; Pretty Hawk was scream-

ing. Black Head carried his gun into the bushes and another man
followed behind. The bear was growling, but now Pretty Hawk was
silent.

Someone called for me to stay but I crept behind the two men,
listening to them encouraging each other. Then I saw Pretty Hawk
lying in a clearing with the bear mauling him. When Black Head
shot the bear in the back it walked slowly away.

One of Pretty Hawk's eyes was hanging out, his lower jaw was
crushed, and on one side his ribs showed through. He moved his hand
to touch his face but his shoulder was broken and he clawed the air.
It was a long time before he died.

The bushes were fired but the bear was gone. We broke camp im-
mediately, traveling along the Big Horn River until we camped near
another canyon where more berries grew.

I spent a good day picking with some other young people, each of
us boys helping a girl. Toward evening we swam our horses across
the Big Horn River. During our meal on the other side we heard
noises and grew afraid enemies might be around, so we rode closer
to the mountains, making camp after dark by a little creek. I chose
a sleeping place by some thick chokecherry bushes so I would be able
to fill my bags quickly the next morning. Medicine Thunder was with
me, and we spread our saddle blankets under a large box-elder tree
and covered ourselves with robes.

A little before daybreak I felt a weight on my feet and woke up.
My robe was over my head and my arm around Medicine Thunder.
When something pulled at my robe I held it tightly around my neck.
As the tugging continued I let the robe slide off and raised my head.
A black bear was sitting partly on my legs, facing in the direction of
the other boys and girls just waking up. I dropped my head and tried
to squeeze under Medicine Thunder's arm. When he told me to let
him sleep I put my fingers to my lips and motioned for him to look.
Then he pulled his robe over his face and tried to hide under me. The
bear just moved a little more onto my legs, its attention still on the
other voices.

When our friends called us, the bear grew restless and moved off
my legs, but still did not notice us. It was almost sunup when it finally
began walking away. Medicine Thunder suddenly rolled over and
we ran, yelling to our friends to get their guns. As we looked back
the bear was standing near some underbrush. We caught our horses,
raced back to the main camp, and returned with some men. Eats The
4

Ear rode too close and the bear bit a piece out of his horse's hind-
quarters. As it turned to escape into some bushes Medicine Arrow
shot an arrow into one of its forelegs. It raised itself on its hind legs
and pawed the air, crying like a human being. Then we all shot and
soon it was dead.

There is not much to any boy's life. Even the gathering of wisdom
is play. Many of our games had a purpose in those days.

We especially liked the arrow-throwing game which taught us
accuracy and developed our arms and shoulders. An older man would
call six or eight of us together at the edge of camp, each with a throw-
ing arrow about his own height. The man threw his arrow, which
was our target. Then we threw ours, one after another, and the
closest won. People from camp would watch, offering prizes for
the winner. Sometimes I was lucky and won a blanket, which I needed
because I was poor. The people also placed bets on us and when some
well-known warrior picked me I would try hard to win for him.

We also played the hoop-and-arrow game. A small rawhide hoop
was rolled along the ground and we tried to shoot through it from
far away. The winner was usually given a prize, and the people bet-
ting would give something to the boy who won for them.

We boys played war along the river bottoms, separating into two
parties and striking each other with willow sticks. I could run through
brush without making any noise, ambush someone, and suddenly ap-
pear in front of another boy to strike again. Sometimes the older
warriors offered prizes for him who struck first or struck most.

In the winter we slid down high slopes on sleds made of buffalo
ribs fastened together with rawhide, while one of our girl friends
held on behind. In summer we used those same sleds on steep grassy
hills. Sometimes we spun tops on the ice. We were also allowed
to join in many of the dances, usually held when we had visitors
from other clans 2 or when successful war parties returned. I en-
joyed this and was considered a good dancer.

Chapter Two

The legends which helped to form Big Crane's

ambitions -followed certain patterns. For Two Leggings, as

Big Crane was later renamed, the Bear White Child tale

must have held particular significance. He saw his own life's trials

and triumphs -fitting the general outline of the impoverished

orphan who, after earning supernatural support, wins status

and wealth.

A second motif common to Crow oral tradition,
that of the camp bully who lords his power over his fellows,

was also woven into this tale.

But the line between myth and reality is hard to

draw in Crow literature. Often a real personage or an historical

incident slips into the realm of legend. Two Leggings asserted that

this was a true story, and there are accounts from the early

nineteenth century of antagonism between the Whistling Waters

clan and the Treacherous clan. The very name of the latter

clan is traced to a certain leader named One Eye, who so mistreated

his own people that his clan was renamed the Piegan, or

Treacherous, clan because its members behaved like enemies, or

Piegans, to their tribesmen.

As A BOY I spent my evenings listening to the stories of our warriors
and medicine men. I wanted to be just as brave and honored, and the
following day would train myself that much harder, running and
riding and playing war games with my friends.

When we were young we did not speak, we listened to our Wise
Ones. Sometimes we were told what to do and sometimes we learned
6

through stories of true things that happened long ago. I will tell you
the story of Bear White Child * because it contains the most sacred
instructions which can be given to a young man who hopes to be-
come a chief. After it was told to me in those early days I swore I
would never be revengeful against my own people.

Early one night in leaf-falling season a full moon shone over a Crow
village pitched along the ridge of a big coulee. Old Man Wolf, a
Whistling Waters clan chief, walked through the camp calling certain
men to his tipi for a smoke. When all were gathered, Old Man Wolf
said that he wanted to smoke under grandmother moon. Buffalo robes
were spread outside and the men sat in a half circle. After the pipe
was passed, Old Man Wolf said that since game was scarce they would
move next day to where buffalo had been sighted nearby.

It was still dark face the period just before dawn begins to color
the eastern horizon when the crier woke the camp, telling the
women to prepare their men a good breakfast.

A Treacherous clan chief, One Eye, also lived in this village. It was
believed he could not be killed because he had been adopted by Bear
Up Above, one of the most powerful supernatural persons. His clan
members would abuse members of the Whistling Waters, knowing
they were too afraid of One Eye to fight back, and One Eye himself
often started feuds between the two clans.

A poor boy lived in this village, whose mother was his only living
relative. But they belonged to the Whistling Waters clan; its mem-
bers provided them with food and clothing.

Old Man Wolf had forgotten to invite One Eye to his meeting and
the clan leader brooded over this insult. He knew the boy was well
liked by all the Whistling Waters, and planned his revenge.

The hunters left at dawn, followed b"y the skinners and women. As
the sun rose it became hotter. Everyone grew thirsty and around the
middle of the day they stopped at a small spring where the water
flowed cool and clear. After a short rest everyone went for one last
drink.

The boy followed the older people, lying flat on his chest and put-
ting his mouth into the water. Then One Eye, standing to one side,
pressed his foot onto the boy's neck. All the people saw it but were
afraid to do anything. One Eye talked loudly, pretending to give orders
for the hunt. When bubbles came to the surface One Eye took his
foot away and joined his men.

Although the Whistling Waters members were angry, they were
afraid of One Eye's power and of causing trouble in the tribe. Pull-
ing the body from the spring, they laid it under a pine tree, covering
it with a buffalo robe.

Late in the day they returned to bury him and were surprised to
find the body gone. At first they thought some bear or mountain lion
had dragged it off, but no tracks could be found. The next morning
they carefully searched the surrounding hills, but discovered no signs.

Soon after being placed under the tree the boy had woken as if from
a sleep. Instead of returning to his people he walked toward the moun-
tains where he fasted and prayed. One night, at a place known as
Bear Camp, he was told in a dream that Bear Up Above would adopt
him in the new grass moon. All that winter the boy remained in the
mountains, protected by the Without Fires. In the meantime he was
almost forgotten in his village, although some felt that One Eye should
be punished.

One day, as the boy was resting on a rock, a bird appeared and told
him to be ready because Bear Up Above was going to adopt him.
The bird said he should not be afraid, Bear Up Above would not hurt
him.

As the boy remained on the rock, watching the setting sun, he no-
ticed a black cloud, as if a storm were about to break. The cloud grew
larger and more threatening. He felt strong gusts of wind and saw
streaks of lightning. It began to rain very hard and he was afraid the
large hail stones would kill him. As he ran for a place to hide, a voice
told him not to fear, that he was about to be adopted.

The hail fell all around, but the boy was not touched. Again he
looked in the direction the storm had come; a black cloud hung in
the middle of the hail. The cloud's center began taking shape and he
saw the head of Bear Up Above. At the moment the upper half of the
bear's body appeared the hail stopped. The bear sang a song as it
reached down to embrace the boy. It lifted him into the air and when
it finished singing, put him down.

After doing this four times, a fine-looking young man suddenly
stood before the boy; he knew it was this same bear. The man said
that he had adopted One Eye, but having seen One Eye's acts he had
decided to take away his power. He had brought the boy back to
life and had tested him. He said he knew how the boy had kept him-
self from the comforts of camp during the worst part of the year.
He would reward him with the power he had once granted to One
Eye. He gave the boy the name of Bear White Child.
8

The young man told Bear White Child that upon his return to the
village he was to build four sweat lodges and invite everyone to enter
them. He told the boy to offer a smoke to him there and said he would
like this very much. Then the boy was to make One Eye miserable
until the day came to kill him. For this he gave the boy bear sinew,
a piece of which he was to throw into a fire. As it shriveled up One
Eye's body would also shrink until he died. The boy could kill all his
enemies this way.

After telling Bear White Child where the camp had moved, the
young man disappeared, leaving behind him a clear blue sky.

During the winter Bear White Child had grown into a young man.
As he took the return trail he felt strong and happy. He made himself
a bow and arrows and on his way killed a deer, but ate very little.
Reaching the outskirts of the village he sat down to rest. Then he
rose, walked into the dpi of an old Whistling Waters clan member,
and asked him to announce his return throughout the camp and to
request his clan members to help him build four sweat lodges. The
others in the dpi were surprised to see the boy grown up. After they
had smoked, the old man announced the boy's return and repeated
his request. The people thought he was crazy, but soon Bear White
Child appeared, bringing in willow branches for the sweat lodges.
One Eye was among the onlookers and was heard to say that the boy
must have had some great dream and that he was glad to see him
back. Actually, he was sure he had killed the boy and was afraid.
Although One Eye flattered him in every way, Bear White Child
ignored him.

After the sweat-lodge ceremony Bear White Child left the fourth
lodge, lit his pipe, and offered the smoke to Bear Up Above. When a
streak of lightning shot from the bowl to the sky, the people knew he
must have some great power and were afraid of him. Then Bear White
Child went to his mother's tipi where she was crying with joy at his
return.

Nothing more happened until one night, in a dream, Bear White
Child was told to fast on Long Mountain.

Early the next morning he told his mother he was leaving and to
prepare him a good meal. Understanding that her son had some strong
medicine power, she asked no questions. He had told a friend that he
was fasting to the spirits, whose chief tipi was on Long Mountain,
and his friend had asked to come. They climbed to the top and fixed
their sleeping places. That night Bear Up Above appeared in the form
of the fine-looking young man. He told Bear White Child that he

9

had made him dream, and was appearing on the first night because he
did not want to see Bear White Child suffer. Now was the time for
Bear White Child to steal One Eye's youngest wife. Bear Up Above
told him not to be afraid, for no one could harm him until he wanted
to take Bear White Child back forever.

Bear White Child woke at daybreak and called to his friend that
he was returning. When he told about his dream his friend was glad
because he hated One Eye.

After their return the crier announced that on the following day
camp would move. That night Bear White Child stole One Eye's
youngest wife, the prettiest girl in the tribe. Many young men wanted
to marry her but had been afraid of One Eye's power. The news
spread the next morning as the crier announced that camp would re-
main there because Bear White Child was to be married. The crier
also told the women to make the new wife a deerskin dress covered
with elk teeth. When someone asked One Eye what he was going to
do he said that both were young, that Bear White Child was a nice
man and his wife good looking. He said he coulci not blame him for
stealing her and he thought they would be happy.

But One Eye sent her a message, warning that if she did not come
to him something bad would happen. Bear White Child told her that
there was no need to be afraid; One Eye could do nothing. When
she walked into One Eye's tipi he was feeling good and said that he
hoped she would be happy. As a wedding gift he gave her the pony
that was her favorite and said he liked her husband. The people were
surprised; they were sure One Eye would try to take some revenge.

As the season passed Bear White Child stole One Eye's three re-
maining wives, and still One Eye did nothing. When autumn came
the Whistling Waters members urged Bear White Child to take his
final revenge. Soon afterwards he asked his friends to build him a fire.
When it was blazing he threw in his piece of bear sinew, saying that
it was One Eye's body. As the sinew twisted in the heat One Eye,
who was standing a few tipis away, suddenly fell groaning on his back.
Everyone saw his body shrivel away and he died.

Then Bear White Child told the whole camp about his dream and
said that he had thrown in all the sinew because he never wanted to
use that revenge again.

10

Chapter Three

The Crow boy quickly learned that the arenas

-for achieving success were the fasting place, the raid,

and the council of chiefs. Everything he saw and heard made

him yearn to begin the series of offices: a war party 7 s

helper, scout or "wolf" as the Crows called them, leader of scouts,

pipeholder, chief, and head chief. But rarely was the

progression so regimented; an outstanding exploit or a notably

powerful vision could land a man almost anywhere on the

ladder.

To become a pipeholder, or The One Who

Owns The War Party, it was necessary either to experience

a vision which the accredited pipeholders would accept

or to purchase an acknowledged pipeholders war medicine bundle.

However, only a warrior who had completed four prescribed

battle feats was eligible for this office. During ceremonies on his

raiding trip the pipeholder opened the pipe which was his

badge, and from his personal war bundle he learned where to

lead his men and how to act. When someone disobeyed

this medicine's commands, or when the pipeholder received an

ominous dream, the raid was cut short.

I WAS GROWING restless shooting rabbits and longed to join the war
parties I watched going out. In the evenings I wandered through the
village until I found a tipi where some old man was telling stories of
famous raids. If I was not invited in I would sit outside, my ear pressed
to the skin wall. Later that night, in ray brother's tipi, I would imag-
ine those same things happening to me. When I asked my brother

ii

to let me join a raiding party he only laughed, but watched closely
to make suf e I did not run off .

I was about fourteen years old when we were camped on Bear
Creek, a tributary of t{ie Musselshell River, near where it empties
into Big River. One day I heard that Shows His Wing, Two Belly,
and Bank were leading a war party to recover some horses stolen by
the Piegans. 1 My brother would not give me his permission to go,
which I knew Shows His Wing would require. Three elder brothers
were also helping him watch that I did not run away.

I strolled to the edge of the tipis, carrying my bow and arrows.
When my brother turned around, I ran behind a tipi and into the
bushes. Arriving at the top of a nearby ridge, I hid behind some rocks
while the war party walked by.

I was afraid to join right away but showed myself when they
stopped for their noon meal. Shows His Wing asked what I was do-
ing and I answered that I wanted to be their helper. He said I was
too young and chose four men to take me home. Although I begged,
my words were like the wind to him.

When we could see our village they told me to go on alone. I sat
on the ground, watching them disappear over the ridge. Then I looked
at our tipis. If I returned I would never have a chance to improve
my life. I would rather be killed on a raid than do nothing in camp.
I ran until I saw the four men again and started walking slowly be-
hind. When they reached their camp at nightfall, I hid as close as I
dared.

It was late in leaf-falling moon and snow covered the ground. As
I watched their fires my feet grew numb, but I was only worried
whether Shows His Wing would let me stay. The men had built four
shelters of tree branches covered with brush and blankets and I could
hear them talking inside. When someone walked out of the firelight
I did not think he would see me, but the clouds parted and the full
moon lit the country like day. I had to answer when he called, and
he led me to Shows His Wing. The men were resting after their meal
and told me to cut a piece of fresh elk and broil it. As Shows His
Wing watched me eat he kept saying that they were walking far and
I was so small.

I did not feel that small but he told his men they should have taken
me into the village. When I finished eating Bob Tail Wolf and Wolf
Cap accompanied me back a second time. But at dawn, when we
reached the location of their last noon camp, they said I knew the
way.
12

Again I waited until they had disappeared and again I walked in
their tracks. Soon I found the remains of their fire and built it up to
warm my feet. It dried my moccasins but made me fall asleep. When
I woke it was sundown. After warming up again I followed their
tracks in the moonlight, walking across ice, through groves of cotton-
woods, and along the river banks.

When we .are young we are all cowards. I was alone for the first
time that night and the owls scared me. Stopping for a moment, I
would hear strange noises and start to run.

Soon I smelled cooked meat and knew I was close. I was afraid to
get too near, but once again someone noticed me and took me to the
pipeholder.

Shows His Wing said that I was like a coyote trailing behind their
party. Boys are always looking for excitement, he said, and his men
should have taken me directly to my brother's tipi. But since I had
shown my eagerness to go, he allowed me to stay. I was happy and
could not speak.

A fat buffalo had been killed and Shows His Wing told me to eat.
When he learned I had only a spare pair of my brother's moccasins,
he told me to throw away those and my own torn pair. Then he asked
some men for extra moccasins but none fit so he cut down my broth-
er's pair and sewed them up again. We had no coats in those days and
I wore only a thin shirt, a pair of ragged leggings, and an old buffalo
robe with most of the fur gone. I was an orphan and although I had
three older brothers I was very poor.

Shows His Wing had a white part of a Hudson's Bay blanket and
sent me to Two Belly's shelter for another piece. There I was told
that I would be given the cloth for tobacco. 2 Although Shows His
Wing had little he sent me back with some and I returned with a
narrow strip from a black-and-white blanket. When I wore the
jacket the men made I looked like an eagle with white breast and
black wings. Breath brought more cloth and after arguing what to
make they sewed it into a cap, tying it to the jacket, and then made
mittens and attached them to my sleeves. In the morning Shows His
Wing led us where he thought the Piegans had gone and we soon
found their tracks.

The men were watching to see if I got tired. But I had trained my-
self and even kept up when we ran one entire night because our scouts
had discovered we were catching up. The following sunset we sighted
their group of brush shelters.

Our party consisted of only six experienced warriors, two younger

men, and myself. We three were told to stay behind and when it grew
dark the others crawled out. After they had left I tried to persuade
the young men to join me, but they said they were too young for
real fighting.

I was excited and also began crawling out. When our men stopped
to spread out I lay behind them. It was nearly daybreak when they
noticed me, whispering that I must get back. But I was a man now
and wanted to see what kind of people these Piegans were.

White Buffalo thought it was too dangerous and someone else
warned that if the Piegans chased us I must not cry out.

Then Does Not Turn Back said that I might be braver than any
of them and remembered how well I had run. He told me to stay by
him.

By the time the sun touched the treetops we had surrounded their
camp. I was told again to go back but I stayed, holding tightly to my
bow and arrows.

However, the Piegans had discovered us and had slipped away. We
quickly picked up the trail and soon saw seven men riding our horses
toward the mountains. Then they dropped out of sight.

Shows His Wing led us on a shortcut across the hills, arriving at
the mountain pass at sunset. They had not yet crossed and we hid
among the trees. Since he was not expecting the Piegans for a while,
Shows His Wing told us to rest. But I could not sleep. While I
watched the pass, a dog we had brought to carry our few belongings
lay next to me.

When it lifted its nose and began growling, I looked closer. Men
walked out of the darkness and I put an arrow on my bow. I heard
the heavy breathing of my friends sleeping behind me, but never
thought to wake them up.

The dog barked, someone shouted, and the Piegans ran down the
hillside. Our men were awake and running in the opposite direction,
but three stood with me, waiting to see if more Piegans showed. We
saw none, and it was too dark to follow into the thick timber. Breath
was with me and he yelled for the others to pick up their blankets.

When they crowded around I spoke with a serious face, telling
them that one man had walked right up to me and that when he felt
my arrow he had screamed. Then I had looked around and only three
were with me. Someone said that they had been trying to send me
home and now I had proved myself the bravest. Two Belly said they
had not acted properly and should return home.
14

We returned a few days later and my brother scolded me as soon
as I walked Into his dpi. But he must have heard how I had behaved
because after that he did not treat me like the small boy he had always
known.

Although on that first war party we did not fight or steal horses,
it was the beginning of a new life. 3

The following summer our camp was farther upstream on Bear
Creek. One day I was leaving to hunt birds and had just reached the
edge of the tipis when I heard a man shouting. He was too far away
to be understood but I could see him wildly waving his arms. Some
men galloped past me, heading for him. My brother's horse was tied
close by and I jumped on without saddle or blanket. I recognized
those riding beside me: Black Earth, Plain Weasel, Stays Among The
Birds, and Rolls Himself. Pulling up, we saw a body.

The two men had been surrounded by a small group of Piegans.
The hair was gone from one side of the dead man's head, but his
friend had fought so hard the Piegans had left after stealing their
horses. Stays Among The Birds said that the dead man had been brave
and that we would take revenge. His friend pointed the direction the
Piegans had fled. That body lying on the ground made me very angry.

The Piegans had ridden so hard that their horses were soon short-
winded, and we came upon them whipping their quirts. As they tried
to reach some trees we could hear their cries. Now both sides were
shooting but no one was hit. Two Piegans could not get to the trees
and dismounted, shooting from their knees. As Sharp Lance rode by
he yelled for me to stay back. Stays Among The Birds caught hold
of my reins, saying I was crazy. Sharp Lance rode in close and a bul-
let hit him in the chest, coming out the back of his neck. When this
did not stop us, one Piegan lost his head and began running around
in circles. The other pulled out his knife and stabbed his friend until
he fell. I wanted to shoot this remaining man but Stays Among The
Birds held my horse.

Lets The Women Stand raced past before the Piegan could shoot
and grabbed his gun. Then Stays Among The Birds dropped my
reins. As I rode up the Piegan pulled his knife out of his companion's
body and stood ready. I had an arrow on my bow but decided to ride
him down. He got so excited he dropped his knife and just as I was
almost on him someone shot him in the head.

Since it was getting dark we did not follow the others into the trees.

15

We scalped the two Piegans and every man carried a piece. But the
death of Sharp Lance stopped our victory songs. We packed his body
on a horse and began our return. Soon it started to rain and we rode
slowly through a downpour. At dawn we buried our friend on top
of a rocky bluff, wrapping his body in a blanket and covering it with
poles and rocks.

When we arrived in camp I went to my brother's tipi. He was
angry and said that I was too young to go on fighting raids. But my
friends said that I was a brave young man and that if I was not killed
I would become a great warrior. My brother's words meant nothing
when so many spoke like this. I would not disappoint them and would
leave the next time I had the chance.

Soon after I returned from the fight in which Sharp Lance was
killed I was walking around camp and noticed a group of men and
boys talking excitedly. Sends Him Home was holding an unbroken
bronco, blindfolded, without a saddle, its hind legs tied. I overheard
him offer four arrows to the boy who could break it. Someone said
that here was a boy who was not afraid of anything. I told Sends
Him Home that the horse held no gun or knife and that I would ride
it for those arrows.

Some men holding the horse pulled off the blindfold as soon as 1
was on its back. When they handed me the reins the horse stood still,
its muscles trembling. Then it snorted, bit at my legs, and reared.
But the hind legs were tied; it spun around and I landed on my back.
After they had roped it I told Sends Him Home to untie its legs.

As soon as I was on its back again it ran and bucked. I tried to head
it toward the flat area above camp but I lost control. When the peo-
ple cooking their evening meal saw us coming, they scattered. The
horse seemed to enjoy kicking apart their fires.

I felt myself slipping and a hard buck threw rue at the entrance to
my cousin's tipi. My back hurt and Sends Him Home, who had fol-
lowed on his horse, told me to lie still. Then my cousin came out
and covered me with a blanket. We have a custom that if someone
falls in front of a relative on his father's side that relative must give
him a present. In the excitement I had forgotten. 4

Sends Him Home gave me the four arrows anyway because I had
not been afraid. But my back was stiff for a few days.

Chapter Four

Two Leggings has mentioned three "elder

brothers" besides Wolf Chaser, who tried to keep him -from

stealing away on dangerous war parties.

English designations of kinship do not exactly

mirror Crow relationships. A "man's clansmen, according

to their age, would also be called elder or younger brothers. The

same term would be used in speaking to any of his

mother's brothers.

Not only would a Crow boy have addressed

his real mother as "mother" but also both his mothers and

father* s sisters. He would use "father" interchangeably

for his real father, a stepfather, his paternal uncles, his father's

maternal uncle, and the son of his father's sister.

Then, too, he would call his aunts'' Ibusbands "father"

and -finally he would use the word when talking to any ceremonial

or adoptive -fathers.

Later on, Two Leggings remembers a

"brother-in-law" who lent him a horse during a foray

against Piegans. If he had been married when this fight took

place the term could have included his wife's mother's

brother, his wife's brother, as well as a blood sister's husband.

However, he was barely nineteen, unmarried, and

with Wolf Chaser as his only surviving blood kin. The

term is either a mistranslation, or the chapter a slip in Two

Leggings' mental chronology.

ONE DAY in grass-growing moon, when I was about sixteen, Big Boat
announced a raid. My brother wanted me to wait for a few summers,

but it was time I made a name for myself. I found Big Boat preparing
to leave with nine men and asked to go. He wanted to know what
my brother thought. After telling him I added that I could ride and
shoot and run as well as anyone in our village.

Some of his men told him to let me come because I could carry the
food, go for water, and collect firewood. I said 1 would be glad to be
their helper.

Big Boat said I could come if my brother approved, and I ran back
and begged until he finally agreed. At home I gathered a few pairs
of moccasins, a buffalo robe, a new bow and twenty new arrows
which my brother gave me, and an old knife traded from the Gros
Ventres. 1 Long before dawn I was waiting in the dark outside Big

Boat's tipi.

The sun was just rising as we left. We kept our faces north, cross-
ing the Musselshell River and then the Big River. The first night out
Big Boat chose a camping spot and, after ordering me to bring in
some firewood, sat down to watch me. Then he told me to carry
some water from a creek When I had the fire going he seemed satis-
fied.

Rolling up in my robe that night I thought that now I was poor and
unknown, but soon people would be talking about me. And if I was
not killed some day I would become a chief with many honors and
horses and property.

We traveled north for many days, even into the country of the Red
Coats, but saw no enemies. We wore out our spare moccasins and cut
up our robes to make new ones. Finally we were killing prairie dogs
to stay alive, and Big Boat decided to turn back.

After many days we reached the Gun River. It was too high to
ford so we tied driftwood poles together with rawhide, laid cross
poles, and tied on our clothes. We fastened buckskin strings to each
raft and held the ends in our teeth as we swam across with other poles
under our arms. 2 The current was so strong it carried us far down
river, and when we reached the other bank I was exhausted. But we
had no time to rest and continued home.

As I was walking in the rear someone called out that he saw a per-
son and started running. As soon as the Blackfeet knew they had been
discovered they began yelling. All carried guns while we had only
three. One of our men was shot in the arm. Another, hit in the hand,
shouted for us to stand or be killed. Throwing off rny pack, I knelt
and shot at the nearest Blackfeet, my arrow going through his neck

and spinning him around. When I shot a second arrow into his arm
he tried to pull it out. I shot a third into his shoulder and it bounced
up and down as he ran back to his friends.

We entered a small coulee. Soon a man looked over the ridge nearest
us and asked in our language who we were. I shouted back that I was
a Crow. He told us to go home because they had finished with us.
One of their dogs walked close and I shot an arrow through its chest,
yelling that if he came near I would kill him like that.

A little later we watched them disappear into the hills. If they had
been riding we would probably have all been killed.

We had lost our robes and were nearly naked. We walked the rest
of that day and long into the night before sleeping.

The next day we ran into a buffalo herd and then had enough meat
for our trip back and hide to patch our moccasins. We were happy
men a few days later when we walked into our village at the foot of
Snowy Mountain.

There was much singing on our return and I was mentioned as the
only one who had wounded a Piegan. I had to tell my story to the
friends and relatives who visited my brother's tipi. The two wounded
men recovered but the one man's hand was stiff for the rest of his
life.

Soon after our return, Long Horse, Chief of all the Crows, fell off
his horse and died from the injuries. Crooked Arm was chosen in his
place. 3

Our camp packed up after his death and moved in easy stages to
Big River. During this entire trip our men hunted buffalo.

Wolf Chaser had gone to visit the Many Lodges camped near the
Arrowhead Mountains, and I stayed with our village as far as Big
River. During this time I would often sit on a hilltop outside camp,
imagining the things I would do someday. I wanted excitement but
no one seemed to want to go raiding. When I heard that three men
were leaving to visit the Many Lodges at Arrowhead Mountains I
asked to go. Perhaps there I would find a pipeholder to join.

When we arrived we learned that their chief, Grey Dog, had just
been killed. The new chief was Sits In The Middle Of The Land and
next to him in rank was White On The Side Of His Head. 4

The Many Lodges traveled to the Bighorn River, following^
downstream until they camped near the present town of Hardin.
Buffalo were plentiful in the valley and every day we hunted, keep-

19

ing the women busy cutting meat into thin strips, laying them on
racks to dry, and cleaning skins.

When the buffalo moved off we traveled over the Pine Ridge Hills
to Elk River Valley and down Arrow Creek to the Arrowhead Moun-
tains again. I had been staying with Wolf Chaser and while I was
here he gave me a flintlock he had bought from an old man.

I made a powder horn by boiling out the core of a fresh buffalo
horn, carving a driftwood plug to fit the large end which I fastened
with hardwood pegs. I also made a buckskin bullet bag and hung both
on a strap over my shoulder.

So when Half Yellow Face announced a raid against the Shoshonis
I was ready. I quickly got his and my brother's permission to go, this
time as a warrior.

It was a beautiful morning in grass-growing moon as Half Yellow
Face led eleven of us west, on foot because we hoped to steal horses
for the trip back.

We followed Arrow Creek, crossing the flats and walking along
the river for many days, but we met no people. Our moccasins wore
out and we had to kill elk and use the skin to cover our feet. We ate
grouse and bear because we could not find any buffalo, and walked
so far the weather grew hot. We had long since passed the place
where the town of Cody now stands and were following the moun-
tain ranges farther west. In this country we found no white people.
We even crossed the big mountain range, and then, one day towards
nightfall, we found ourselves at the edge of a lake so large we could
not see the other shore.

I woke first the next morning to a sound like a faraway drum. Af-
ter the others were up we tried to see the camp we were sure was
close by. Half Yellow Face pointed to a wooded mountaintop and
told us to hide there until dark.

All day we kept watch, but though we still heard the sound, no
people appeared. Toward evening someone saw smoke rising from
the lake shore, and Spotted Horse, one of our bravest men, crawled
down.

He returned very excited and told Half Yellow Face that it was
not fire smoke but steam from boiling water that bubbled out of the
ground; the drumming was its noise. When we followed and saw
the boiling water we did not like the place. Half Yellow Face led us
homeward but game was scarce and we traveled for days with noth-
ing to eat. Finally we walked out of the mountains near the present
20

site of Cody and saw four enemy tipis on a hilltop. People stood
around them. Then we noticed a number of horses, separated from the
tipis by a steep ridge.

We all agreed that it would be better to be killed than to starve
to death. Although we almost never cut horses in daylight, we could
not wait. When the enemy corralled them for the night they would
be even harder to steal. Then we saw the people go inside to sleep
during the hot part of the day.

Half Yellow Face had us move up and chose Short Horn and Wolf
Goes To Drink, both good runners. We watched them crawl up to
the grazing horses, taking advantage of every cover and holding sage
bushes before them.

After disappearing into the herd, they shortly returned leading two
horses. Four more men then crawled up and brought back eight more
horses. While our men kept returning for horses I stayed behind with
two men to guard the growing herd.

By the time we had twenty-four head the sun was far past the mid-
dle, and we began to worry they would wake up. Half Yellow Face
said we had enough, and once we had quietly walked the horses a
safe distance we allowed ourselves no rest until we reached our vil-
lage on the banks of the Bighorn River.

We returned in leaf-falling moon, almost naked, without any am-
munition, and starving. But we had twenty-four horses and all of us
were alive. Our people had been afraid we were dead and there was
much feasting and dancing. Our story was told among the campfires,
the victory songs mentioned our names, and again I was noticed.

21

Chapter Five

When the Crow Wise Ones told Two

Leggings these creation myths, each was laced with lengthy

dialogues, tangential episodes, and personal

variations on well-known themes. Every tale, whether of

the remembered warpath, mythological heroes, or

supernatural figures, required an entire evening to unfold and

was adorned with a great variety of stylistic

devices in word usage and dramatic emphasis. Even then,

when the fire was down to glowing embers and the

raconteur received no audience "aho" to a particularly masterful

expression, his story was dropped until the following

night.

Throughout his talks with Two Leggings,

Wildschut interrupted the narrative to ask for a rationale

behind the bare description of events, customs, and

ceremonies. Initially the old man -feared that such intimate

disclosures would cause his death. "But Wildschut was

patient, and later he sprinkled these abbreviated pieces of sacred

lore into his manuscript. They have been combined

here to give the Crow world view, without which. Two

Leggings told Wildschut, "much would remain like a

starless $ky"

Now I MUST TELL you some sacred stories which were told to me by
our chiefs and medicine men and came from their many winters. So
I will begin at the time when there was no earth, when there was
nothing but water.

We have always believed in one creator of everything and call him
22

First Worker. 1 One day First Worker was looking over the world
and did not like all this water. He made a duck dive down and bring
him some mud. After rubbing this between his palms he blew it every-
where, creating the land and mountains and rivers. First Worker
wanted to make human beings and formed the mud into many groups
of clay people. To test them he made arrows and stuck them into
the ground pointing east. When he ordered the first group of clay
people to charge the arrows, they fell back. The next group also
stopped when they met the arrows. Although the last group were
pierced by the arrows, they ran on through. These different clay
peoples became the different Indian tribes, and the bravest, who had
charged through, became the Crows.

First Worker was proud of them because they were not afraid to
die. He told the other groups to spread out and live in different places
but he placed the Crows in the center so that whatever direction they
traveled they would always meet other tribes.

First Worker also created two boys and ordered them to teach the
Crows how to live and to give them their religion. These boys were
First Worker's servants and that is why when we dream and have
visions we receive both a medicine and a sacred helper to guide us
through life. Except for important ceremonial occasions and when
we fast for visions, we address our prayers to our sacred helper, who
will pray for us to First Worker. These helpers are different for each
of us as we all have different dreams.

Our medicine men, the chiefs, and our parents wanted us to fast
for a medicine when we felt the need. Sometimes powerful dreams
were seen by a child who did not understand them until years later.
But the stories we heard in the winter tipis and around the summer
campfires were usually enough to make us want power and protec-
tion in our future lives and war trails.

Once I remember a leading medicine man asking through the camp
for our young men to fast in the mountains. Our enemies had been
repeatedly successful. He hoped one of us would receive a medicine
and take revenge.

Many of our women fasted and some obtained powerful medicines.
But usually they did not fast until they had married or were old
enough to be married, and then it was because they were mourning
someone's death or because of an unhappy love affair.

The sweat bath was the first medicine First Worker and his two

23

boy servants gave us. 2 In the old days it was our most sacred medicine
and came before all fasts and important ceremonies. It cleansed our
bodies, and when we burned incense inside the sweat lodge while
praying to First Worker, it cleansed our souls.

The two boys told us that the sweat lodge represented First Work-
er's body. The steam from the heated stones, or the smoke from the
incense, was his image. It used to be taken as a cure for an illness, but
now it is used at any time, like a bath. They still pour the four, seven,
ten, and countless number of cupfuls on the red-hot stones, but many
do not know what this means. The first four cupfuls are First Work-
er's arms and legs. They are also the four main supporting willows
of the sweat lodge. The next seven are the pipe-pointer star [the Big
Dipper]. The ten cupfuls represent the cluster stars, and the count-
less number means the Other Side Camp, where we live after we die.

If we were preparing for a fast we followed the sweat bath by
carefully washing our bodies in a stream and scrubbing our nails. Then
we purified ourselves in a sacred smudge of burning pine needles.
After that we took no food or water. This also cleansed our minds
and took away as much as possible our human smell. The Without
Fires do not like the smell of men, and we fasted for them to favor

us.

The two boy servants taught us to weep and pray as we fasted for
our own medicine. If there was no reason to weep we were to torture
ourselves and sprinkle the earth with our tears and blood. We were
told that First Worker's birds like to eat, and when we cut a piece of
our flesh it softens their hearts so they will help us and perhaps be-
come our medicine.

If we fasted on a mountaintop we built a small bed of rocks run-
ning east and west, spread it with pine branches, and faced east as we
lay down. Then we covered ourselves with a freshly tanned buffalo
robe rubbed with white clay to show cleanliness. For four days we'
lay there, sleeping and watching the sun until we saw our vision.

The two boys sent by First Worker taught us how to make medi-
cine bundles after we had received our vision. The bundles contained
the skins of animals we had seen in our dreams. If the sun, the moon,
clouds, or other things appeared in those dreams, the boys showed
us how to represent them in different ways.

The two boy servants taught us that there is another world like our
earth, the Other Side Camp. The same animals, birds, fishes, and
24

plants live there. The same rivers flow and the same mountains rise
to the sky.

The Other Side Camp is divided into two clans and together they
are called the Without Fires. One contains the animals, the sun and
the moon and the stars, except for the star with a tail which some-
times appears during the summer months, and the souls of the dead
the little whirlwinds which dance over the plains. All the water
animals of both our world and this Other Side Camp world belong
to this clan, and so do the birds, the thunder, and the dwarfs. Old
Man Coyote is its chief.

The other Without Fires clan is made up of everything that comes
from the earth: the plants, flowers, trees, and rocks. This earth clan
has four chief spirits: the wind, the fire, the water, and the earth itself.

The earth is our mother; our body is born from it and returns to it
after we die. Our breath is wind and it is also our soul. Our words
are our breath and they are sacred.

Each of the two clans is divided into many clans represented by
different Without Fires. When we receive a medicine we join the
Other Side Camp clan of our helper. Sometimes we fasted many
times, dreaming of different helpers. Then all these and the dreamer
made one personal medicine clan.

The Without Fires chiefs also have their servants. The sun is the
chief of all the sky beings and its most important servant is the eagle.
The moon is a lesser chief and has the owl for its servant. The light-
ning, wind, and rain also have birds as their helpers.

The chief helpers of the most powerful Without Fires can choose
who among the lesser Without Fires will belong to the dreamer's
medicine bundle. He will be told this in his vision. The objects within
a medicine bundle are the actual dwelling places of the members of
the dreamer's medicine clan. Many different things are found in each
bundle because every item represents one of the Without Fires or
something the dreamer was promised; only he can explain them.

I have seen a shield on which there were pictures of the sun, rain,
clouds, and an eagle with lightning striking from its claws. The
dreamer who was told in his vision to make that medicine may have
only had a vision of an eagle. But the sun, lightning, wind, and rain
belonged to the eagle's Other Side Camp clan and he pictured them
also.

Certain things in a medicine bundle always mean the same: Horse-
hair represents the hope for horses, elk teeth or beads mean wealth,

25

and a strip of otter skin means water because the otter is the chief of
all water animals.

All Crows have a sacred helper from the time of their birth, but
some do not know him because they never receive their own medi-
cine or because their dreams are not powerful. In that case they can
buy a duplicate medicine bundle from a well-known medicine man or
warrior. Some of us bought powerful medicine bundles from well-
known medicine men even if we had a vision of our own because we
wanted their power and their sacred helpers. But the owner would
rarely duplicate all of his bundle. He would hold a little power over
his copies, as was right.

We are fond of gambling and the two boys taught us this. The two
Without Fires clans like to gamble against each other and their stakes
are the lives of the Indians they have adopted through the medicine
dreams. When a clan member loses, his adopted child is "eaten" 3 by
the winning clan.

The man who dies fighting is lucky. He was looked after with
special care by some Without Fire father who had won his life in
the gambling. After he dies his soul is dressed with all the honors of
a warrior. He becomes one with the helper who won him and will
live an honored life in the Other Side Camp. ^'"*

We did not want to receive a vision of the sun because he is a bad
gambler. Although the dreamer usually became a powerful medicine
man, he almost always died young. We preferred the moon which
gambles often but rarely loses; its adopted children lead long lives.

The clans of the Without Fires also have a servant. He looks like
an Indian but has pine trees growing out of his lower eyelids. He
arranges war parties, brings enemies together, and leads the souls of
the dead to be adopted by the winning members. If no one is killed
in these battles he is disappointed and tired as he returns home. 4

Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people want it. It
proves that a sacred helper was powerful and fond of his child. It
also shows that he was a good gambler and never lost a game during
his child's earlier life. When the time comes and we old men go to
the Other Side Camp to live in peace and happiness, we are one with
our sacred helper.

Many men die young on the battlefield. This shows that their
sacred helper was not very powerful and lost his game early in the
life of his adopted child. Or perhaps the adopted man did not obey
26

his sacred father. When we receive a medicine our sacred helper gives
us certain instructions. Sometimes we must not do certain things, like
eating certain foods. If we disobey we may have bad luck or sick-
ness or suffer a wound in battle. If we keep disobeying our sacred
helper he will grow angry and place the life of his child as a stake
against some powerful opponent who always wins. The souls of peo-
ple who die this way are of a lower kind, but they are alloweid to
enter the Other Side Camp. However, the souls of suicides and mur-
derers must roam the earth as ghosts.

When the Black Robes came to us they talked about the devil but
we could not find him in the things we knew. We think that every-
thing is good and bad and that no person or thing is all good or all
bad. I have known many men who had the ghosts as their medicine.

But we are afraid of ghosts because they may have a grudge against
someone and plant a cactus needle in his body, making him sick. This
can only be pulled out by a medicince man and that costs many pres-
ents.

Rock medicines were also given to us by First Worker's two boy
helpers. Before First Worker created people there were only himself,
Old Man Coyote, and a man who was the spirit of all rocks. 5 This man
wandered over the earth looking for a mate, but without any luck.
Then he met Old Man Coyote and told him about his search. Old
Man Coyote advised him to go to the tobacco plant. Inside its husk
were seeds, and Old Man Coyote said that these were the female
people. The spirit of all rocks went to the tobacco plant and entered
the husk. There he found a mate and took her to his home. They
were the origin of life.

When the two boy helpers gave the Crows the sweat lodge and the
Sun Dance they also gave us the tobacco-planting ceremony and the
rock medicines. Four is our sacred number and that is why they gave
us four medicines.

Rock medicines are both male and female because they began with
the marriage of the male rock and the female tobacco plant. Some-
times we place a male rock medicine with a female one and do not
disturb them for a year. By that time a little rock will have come
into the medicine bundle.

-If we pass a strangely shaped rock we will often stop and pray to
it, asking it for good luck and health and happiness. Sometimes we
will carry that rock home, hoping it may appear in a dream. If we do

27

not dream about it, we forget it. But if we do, we believe it is a medi-
cine rock. We make it into a bundle and pray to it. 6

Our bundles, the songs belonging to them, and the ceremony for
using them were all taught to us in our dreams. Together they made
our medicine. A man who ordered his life with this help was a good
and happy man and lived for a long time.

28

Chaffer Six

Fleeting moments of peace, such as the one brought about in this

chapter through the intervention of a Piegan child-captive who had

escaped to his own people, occurred between the Crows and their

most hostile enemies.

But with the Shoshonis, Nez Perces, and Flatheads the Crows

enjoyed long intervals of amity. The permanent alliance between the

Crows and Shoshonis began in 2876 when two hundred Crow lodges

arrived to sound Chief Washkie on his attitude toward the Sioux

invaders.

Although Looking Glass'' Nez Perces joined the Crows in a battle
against the Sioux in 1869, eight years later Crows were scouting for
General Howard in his pursuit of Chief Joseph's and Looking Glass'

bands.

Before 1867 the Crows had made a lasting

treaty with the Blackfeet allies, the Atsina. With the

Mandans and their own cousins, the Hidatsa, they were always

friends.

One famous truce with the Kiowas,

established just after the Crow separation from the Hidatsa,

produced intermarriages and the transfer to the

Kiowas of such cultural traits as the Sun Dance doll,

individual medicine bundles, and warrior societies. The two tribes

exchanged visits; Kiowa parents sometimes left their

children with Crow families for years.

DURING THE WINTER after my return from the Boiling Waters we
camped for a while on the flat between the junction of the Little

29

Bighorn and Bighorn rivers. On the first clear morning after many
days of snow Pretty Face asked me to join him hunting. Everyone
was short of food, and also I was tired of sitting in camp.

Pretty Face was married to a much older woman and brought her,
his saddle horse, and his pack horse. I took two horses and carried my
flintlock.

I walked first. Pretty Face came behind with his bow and arrows,
and his wife drove our horses in the rear. The snow slowed us as we
climbed a bluff where Fort Custer was later built 1 to look down
into the Bighorn Valley. Small buffalo herds were pawing through
the snow for grass. The wind was right and we managed to get close
to one bunch.

I singled out a fat-looking two-year-old bull and wounded it. At
the shot the buffalo stampeded, my bull straggling after them. But it
soon fell and I ran up. Then it got to its feet, trying to catch up with
the herd, but soon slumped again. This went on until finally it fell
still beside a tree. By now Pretty Face and his wife were out of sight.

Walking up I saw its tail move, and before I could raise my gun it
charged. I shot wild, threw the gun down, and ran. When I thought I
heard it stop, I turned. Something slammed into my chest, throwing
me on my back in a little hollow. The bull swerved to avoid me, then
tore past. It also ran into the little cutbank and stood there for a
moment, staring at me and shaking its head. Red froth dropped from
its mouth and its eyes turned red. But it would not fall. Whenever I
tried to roll over, it pawed the ground and switched its tail.

My blanket had fallen when I hit that bank and I was feeling cold.
Each time I reached for it the buffalo stepped closer. The day was
ending, and while I prayed to the Great Above Person the cold grew
worse.

Then I heard Pretty Face telling his wife that he could see my
tracks from the top of the cutbank and then saying that he saw my
body. When he called out I was afraid to answer. Pretty Face said
I must be dead and they began to cry.

He tied his blanket to his rope. As he dropped it down, the bull
charged. Then I called out, and while he dragged the blanket along
the cliff I scrambled up the bank.

Pretty Face told the bull that it had almost killed his friend, then
put an arrow through its heart. We built a fire and soon were eating
and laughing about my running into the bank.

That night I dreamt buffalo were standing all around me, pawing

3

the ground and making the snow fly. I was on my back growing very
cold. When I woke up my robe had fallen off and I was shivering.
The next morning I found my gun. We loaded our horses with meat
and returned to camp.

Not long after that hunt our village was at the mouth of the Mus-
selshell along the banks of Big River. Some of us had gone hunting
and chased one bull into the river. I rode a little distance downstream,
dismounted, and began swimming with my knife in my teeth. When
the bull saw me it tried to hook me but moved clumsily in the water.
I grabbed the long rump hair and climbed onto its back, stabbing it in
the side with all my strength. When I could not kill it I tried to push
its large head under water, but it was too bulky.

My friends had followed along the shore and I called for a rope,
which I tied to the horns. While they pulled I ripped its sides open,
but it did not die until we were close to shore. I was glad to slide off
its back and never did that again.

That season many things happened. A few weeks after the killing
of the buffalo in the river a party of Piegans stole some horses. The
weather had grown colder and ice sealed the creeks and rivers. A
revenge party was organized and my brother let me join. I put on
my warm clothes and took my flintlock. Leaving before sunrise, we
quickly found their tracks. We rode all day and all night, allowing our
horses only enough rest to keep moving. Soon after daybreak we
discovered a burned brush shelter. The Piegans must have thought
the cold weather would keep us at home.

Later that same day we came around a bend in a creek and they
were whipping their horses. Seeing us, they dropped the stolen herd,
but we kept up the chase. I was in the lead as they turned for the
river. Someone shouted for me not to follow them onto the ice.

But I kicked my horse off the bank and immediately we began
sliding. Four Piegans escaped up the opposite bank and I was about
to ride down the remaining two when they dismounted. Even though
their rifles turned out not to work, I jerked on the reins. My horse
slipped and I was thrown, giving the Piegans time to remount and
reach the other side. They rode halfway up a hill with a steep cliff
on one side, meeting their friends on a ledge so narrow only one man
could ride at a time. My friends had caught my horse and we rode
to the top of the hill and built a fire. I was excited and joined Hard
To Camp With at the cliff edge. The Piegans were directly below,

but we did not want to show ourselves. We were arguing over how
to kill them when the cliff collapsed beneath me. Suddenly I was on
a Piegan's back, grabbing his powder-horn strap and pulling him to
me. Just as the strap snapped, Hard To Camp With slid down, snatch-
ing the man's gun. The Piegan joined his friends at the far end of the
ledge. I grew afraid and tried to scramble back up.

But the Piegans were even more surprised than we. One ran off the
cliff and was battered to death on the rocks; the others tried to hide
in a shallow cave.

When the rest of our men slid down my courage returned. Before
the Piegans could protect themselves we killed them all.

On our return a great dance with victory songs was held and the
Wise Ones and warriors praised us. My brother changed his opinion
of me. From then on I took the danger trails whenever I wished.

Not long after the killing at the cliff, Piegans killed one of our men
who was out hunting. When I joined the revenge party my brother
gave me a shield with a two-headed bear painted on it. He also gave
me a fast roan mare, and I carried my bow and arrows. We galloped
hard for several days and long into each night. Then the Piegan
tracks were less than half a day old; finally our scouts reported riders
just ahead. My horse was a good runner and I was up front when
we saw them. As we raced over a ridge they were forcing their tired
horses up a high hill. When they reached the top I and three others
were a few horse lengths away. I put an arrow on my bow and yelled
as I chased them down the other side.

Suddenly we were almost in the middle of a Piegan camp, and a
large group were riding to help their friends. As we hurried back
up I kept turning to watch one Piegan with a white-painted face,
whose hair was tied in a knot on top of his head. 2 I got ready to
shoot but an elder brother, riding beside me, caught hold of my bridle
rope so I could not turn. The Piegan dismounted and his arrow struck
the edge of the shield hanging on my back.

Another Piegan stood beside this man as I was aiming and shouted
in our language for me not to shoot. When he asked about his brother,
Poor Wolf, I recognized him.

Several years earlier our warriors had captured some Piegan chil-
dren, and I had known four well: Poor Wolf, Strap, Rise Up, and Lie
In A Line. They and a few others had escaped just before this raid
and must have alerted their people that we were coming.

The Piegan who had shot an arrow now aimed a gun but Strap
32

knocked It away, breaking it against a rock. As we drew near, a Pie-
gan asked if I was wounded and I said no. If they had not gathered
around so quickly I would have killed the man who had shot at me.

We told Strap that his brother had also left camp and must be lost,
Later I learned that he finally reached his people after living for days
on roots and berries because the gun he had taken did not work.

After my return Wolf Chaser said that everyone thought well of
me and that I seemed to have no fear. When people spoke like this it
made me even more anxious to become a chief and a pipeholder.

My left shoulder was raw from riding with that heavy shield swing-
ing about. From then on I only carried the shield cover, or a minia-
ture shield, because their medicine power was just as much protec-
tion. But I still displayed the shield in parades.

We had made friends with those Piegans, but it did not last long.
Many times they promised they would not shoot our buffalo or steal
our horses. But they always lied and soon afterwards we found them
again in our country.

33

Chaffer Seven

On a raid the Crow novice-warrior

risked his life to perform defined deeds. Two Leggings

listed the four important "coups" in this order: Most

praiseworthy was the striking of an enemy with a gun, bow,

or riding quirt; then came the cutting of an enemy's horse

from a tipi door; next, the recovery of an enemy- 's weapon in battle;

and finally, the riding-down of an enemy.

Specific insignia advertised these

honors. The winner of all four could decorate his deerskin war

shirt with four beaded or porcupine-quill strips,

one running from shoulder to wrist on each sleeve and

one over each shoulder from front to back. Merely earning

the first coup enabled a man to trail a coyote tail

from one moccasin; from both if he performed the feat twice.

Eagle feathers tied to a marts gun or coup display stick

revealed the number of scalps he had taken. A knotted rope hanging

from his horse's neck told of the cutting of an enemy"**

picketed mount. And the number of horses captured could be

read from the stripes of white clay painted under his

horse's eyes or on its flanks. 'From, a white clay hand on those

flanks one learned that the owner had ridden down an enemy.

THE WINTER after we had made friends with the Piegans was very
severe and I do not remember any war parties going out. The snow
was deep and the cold so bad that several horses froze to death. We
stayed close to the mountains on Red Cherry Creek, not far from the
present town of Red Lodge.
34

At snow-melting time we moved to Arrow Creek and then our
scouts reported many buffalo with thick fur in the Bighorn Valley.
Sits In The Middle Of The Land gave orders to break camp and we
moved through the Pine Ridge Hills. Finding great herds roaming in
the valley, we easily killed enough for meat and robes.

When I had my share I could hardly wait to hear of a raid being
organized. During the long cold season I had not visited the white
trader for ammunition. But I had traded with the Gros Ventres for
some hickory sticks and had made myself a strong bow, covering it
with rattlesnake skin which I attached with glue boiled from buffalo
bones. I also made arrows from chokecherry wood and straightened
them with a stone arrow straightener.

After everyone had enough meat and skins, Sits In The Middle Of
The Land led us back to Arrow Creek country. On our way we
camped at Woody Creek and I heard of a raid to be led by Sews His
Guts once a bullet had opened his stomach until his intestines were
falling out and his friends had sewn the hole with sinew and awl.

Sews His Guts let me join and early one morning twenty of us
walked out of camp. I took my gun, as we hoped to stop at the trading
post on the upper reaches of Big River [Fort Benton]. x Sews His
Guts carried his rock medicine as well as his pipe. Inside was a rock
the size of a man's fist with a human face carved on it. It was a power-
ful medicine and had brought him through many battles.

We crossed Elk River just east of the present town of Billings. As
we came up the bench north of the river we were held back by large
buffalo herds. After killing some buffalo for meat we walked on to
the Musselshell River, forded it, and continued north to the foothills
of the Snowy Mountains. Then we began moving carefully because
we were nearing Piegan country.

One day when the sun was in the middle of the sky we noticed a
man on a nearby hill making smoke signals for us to come over. We
could not see whether he was Piegan or a Crow from another clan.
Eight men started towards him but we called them back, laid down
our packs and heavy robes, and began walking in a body. Immedi-
ately men dashed out from behind rocks and bushes around the sig-
naller, carrying muzzle-loading rifles and firing as soon as they were
within range. We found cover but kept advancing. As they fell back
to reload, I ran out screaming a war cry.

One hung behind and I shot him in the shoulder. Reaching back,
he jerked out the arrow, broke it, and threw it on the ground. He

35

pulled out his knife and ran at me. Jumping aside, I shot him in the
breast. He also pulled out that arrow, broke it, and threw it down.
I tried to keep out of his reach, yelling to get him excited. Then I
shot a third arrow into his stomach. He made a growling sound, but
after he broke that arrow he made signs for me to go back. I made
signs that I was going to kill him. Then he made signs for me to come
closer so he could fight with his knife, and I made signs that I would
not.

He was almost dead and there was no reason to be afraid, so I sup-
pose I played with him. He was my enemy and had probably killed
some of my relatives. He tried to dodge my next arrow but it went
into his chest and came out of his lower back. Blood ran from his
mouth and nose as he walked slowly towards his friends. I shot once
more. He stumbled and fell and died a moment later. Then I scalped
him and tied the hair to my bow. After yelling to our men far ahead,
I sang my first victory song. -^

Taking his warbonnet out of its rawhide case I put it on my head
and danced around his body. I never thought that a Piegan might
surprise me. I was only a boy and now I had my first coup. I sang
and thanked the Great Above Person. I danced until the sweat ran
down my body.

Eight men came back, and when they saw the Piegan they divided
the rest of the scalp and joined in my singing, shooting arrows into
the body. Then we ran to meet the others returning over the hill I
told of my fight but would not go back with them. After they all
had shot arrows into the body they wrapped it in a robe and laid it
on a rock.

The Piegans had been chased away and nobody was killed. Sews
His Guts decided to return to camp, which had moved to the Big-
horn Valley near the present Mission of St. Xavier.

We were singing as we walked into the village, and I held a long
willow stick with my scalp tied to the end. For two days and nights
the women danced the scalp dance and my name was spoken as the one
who had taken revenge on the Piegans. After our celebrations we
settled down to our usual life of hunting and playing games.

The Piegans must have grown very angry that season. Two other
parties returned shortly after with more scalps. During the night we
posted scouts to prevent their crawling into camp, but those Piegans
were very clever.
36

Following the herds over the Little Bighorn River to the present
site of Reno, we continued down river to its meeting with the Big-
horn and the present site of Fort C. F. Smith. 2 There the men hunted
again to supply their families with meat and winter robes.

One night my brother and I woke to a woman's screams. Running
outside, I heard her just beyond camp, yelling over and over that her
mother had been killed.

Torches were lit and men were running around and jumping on
horses. When I arrived at the place the woman was wailing and tear-
ing her clothes, her mother's body beside her. Piegans had sur-
rounded them as they left the circle of the tipis. 3

The daughter began pushing a knife into her forehead, and blood
ran down her face. Then she sliced her arms and legs. We took the
knife away so she would not kill herself. Our people behaved like
this when a close friend or relative died, but she did not know what
she was doing.

I wanted to join the riders chasing the Piegans, but the ground was
covered with snow and I wore only leggings and no moccasins. I
ran back, dressed quickly, loaded my gun, and while I was looking
for my horse someone excited me by yelling that we must kill Pie-
gans. Jumping on the first horse I found, I whipped it hard to catch
up. The dark-face period had passed and with dawn we could make
out the Piegan tracks. My brother-in-law rode a beautiful long-
winded horse, and when he noticed mine faltering he gave it to me.

They turned out to be seven men on foot. Their bullets whistled
by and they fell back, trying to reload. As I was almost on top of
one man he yelled and lifted his gun barrel. It caught between my
left arm and body. A bullet burned a hole through my deerskin shirt.
Riding over him, I grabbed the gun but could not dismount to scalp
him because Piegans surrounded my horse. One swung at my head
with his rifle. When I dodged, the butt struck my shoulder, almost
knocking me off.

The man I had ridden down was only stunned. But as he got to
his feet Bull Does Not Fall Down rode up and killed him.

I noticed the feathers attached to his hair. The other Piegans were
far enough away so I dismounted and scalped him. Singing a victory
song, I mounted again and waved the scalp. The six remaining Pie-
gans were soon chased into a buffalo wallow, lying flat while we
rode around them. One by one we killed them all.

Later on we built a large rock pile where this fight occurred, and

37

it is there today. When we rode into our village we were singing and
holding willow poles with Piegan scalps hanging from the ends.
There was a big celebration and a dance, but I was too tired and
went to bed. Then the drums woke me and I dressed to watch a
woman's dance, all the girls wearing their best clothes. I thought
that perhaps I should stop killing and find myself a wife and make
my own home. I could still go out on raids, I told myself, but only
for horses.

Then I started thinking that the time had come for me to fast for
a medicine. I walked back to my tipi and lay down, trying to make
up my mind. If I were to become a chief and a famous warrior, I
realized that I could not think of marrying and staying at home. But
it was still some time before I fasted.

Chapter Sight

On these early raids Two Leggings has been tempting fate; he has

been warring without a "medicine" Throughout literature

on American Indians this word is the translation -for a variety

of terms meaning "imbued with sacred power" perhaps because

the curative aspect makes most sense to us.

As Wildschut interpreted the word: "The Indian who is visited

in his vision by a personified animal, plant, rock, or spirit,

accepts this visitant as his sacred protector through life, but he

never forgets that it was First Worker who first gave his sacred

helper the strength to do this. This power, known among the Crows

as 'maxpe* [maash-pay], and commonly translated, 'medicine,'

was given in greater or lesser degree to all things"

The Crows walked in a world where anything could be brushed

with this mysterious potency \ Ordinary objects, if they figured in a

dream, would suddenly become sacred and valuable. Anything which

demonstrated the potential for determining the course of life was

considered medicine. The trick came in harnessing these latent

powers to one's aid, in the container of a medicine bundle, and

carefully keeping at bay their harmful aspect through strict

adherence to that bundle's taboos.

AFTER THE PIEGANS killed the woman outside camp, we moved to the
part of Wyoming near the present town of Cody. It was still early
in grass-growing season and on our way we stopped at the junction
of the Stinking Water and the Bighorn River.

While we were there a war party returned from the Sioux country
with horses. I watched the dancing in their honor and could wait no
longer. I told some friends that I was going after horses, not scalps,

39

and seven were willing to join. We needed a pipeholder so I asked
Three Wolf, one of the youngest pipeholders and always ready for
a raid. In a dream some nights before he had been promised horses;
he said we would not have to travel far.

He chose Wolf Head, Bushy Head, and myself for scouts and led
us toward the southern slopes of the Bighorn Mountains. We rode up
Old Baldy and before reaching the top killed a buffalo, skinned it, and
built a cooking fire. This was our last meal for two days.

We had only been out for two days and did not expect enemies
so close, but a scout Three Wolf had sent to an open area up the
mountain returned to report people hunting in the valley on the
other side.

We rode back with him and saw a large party of Utes and Chey-
ennes chasing a herd toward our fire. Riding deeper into the moun-
tains, we watched from some thick pines. When the Utes and Chey-
ennes discovered the smoking wood they began talking and moving
their arms, and soon were spreading out to find us. But a trail on
rocky slopes, especially in winter, is hard to follow. They returned
to the valley, where we watched their women setting up tipis in a
large circle. We stayed hidden until dark and then went for our
horses picketed deeper in the trees. As we mounted I told my friends
that all earth creatures, the birds, and we ourselves must die some-
time. Tonight we would crawl into this camp for horses and if we
were all killed it was not important. But I said that if we lived our
names would be praised and the women would dance.

We dismounted at the base of the mountain and crawled to a dark
grove near their camp. They expected a raid and had picketed their
horses within the tipi circle. Fires ringed the camp and we saw men
wrapped in blankets, carrying guns, waiting for someone crazy
enough to try to reach their horses.

Sometimes a guard yelled out, asking us to come and smoke. But
they were afraid to leave the fires. Wolf Head whispered that we
would get nothing if we just sat there, and started to crawl towards
the tipis, taking only a knife and a buffalo-hair rope coiled around his
waist. He dropped to his stomach and wriggled straight for a camp-
fire where three men with guns were kneeling. Then he was gone,
but we saw his plan. Between him and the fire was a bunch of sage-
brush; he had crawled into their shadows. As long as none of the
men in the firelight moved, he was safe.

It seemed a long time before we heard a noise behind us, thinking
40

first that some Cheyenne had found our location. But then Wolf Head
whispered, and walked in leading a fine black horse. After crawling
between two tipis to cut a picket rope attached to a dpi door, he had
escaped through the shadows on the other side of camp, making a
wide circle back. We admired him and I told myself I would be
just as brave.

When Wolf Head announced that he was going home, some
younger men grew afraid the Cheyennes would discover the cut
rope and left with him. Piegan [personal name], Pozash, 1 and I
changed our hiding place. But the fires threw such a bright glare we
were afraid to sneak between them.

Then dawn began to show and the firelight paled. Walking along
the river bank, I saw three tipis faintly outlined on the other side. I
hid behind a big cottonwood and made out the forms of three horses
picketed beside them. Sounds came from inside one tipi and I ran
back to picket my horse near the river, took off my clothes, and laid
down my gun. Then I began to wade, holding my knife, bow, and
arrows over my head. But swimming made too much noise so I
dressed again.

Beavers had built a dam there, forming a deep pond. I wrapped a
blanket around myself and my bow and arrows so only my eyes
showed. I crossed and passed between the two nearest tipis. People
were talking inside and I smelled smoke.

Walking slowly up to a fine bald-faced horse I tossed my rope. The
animal was nervous and snorted. I looked at the tipi door, but it was
still. As I tried to rope the horse's neck better a gun went off next to
my ear.

At the same moment I felt the air of the bullet the horse reared,
knocking me to the ground. The man who had quietly slipped out
of the tipi must have thought he had killed me. I woke to his shouts
and saw men with guns running towards us. Racing to the river, I
leaped from the bank to the beaver dam. When the Cheyennes
started shooting from the bank I threw myself flat. Then, when they
had emptied their guns, I ran the rest of the way, untied my horse and
picked up my gun, and joined my friends in the trees.

They noticed the bullet holes in my leggings and blanket and were
surprised I was alive. We pushed our horses higher, looking for a
place to hide for a few days before trying again. But when we
reached an open area we saw below a large party of Cheyennes leav-
ing their tipis and soon heard the men in front yelling as they found

4 1

our tracks. Their horses were fresh, and they quickly chased us out
of the trees and up the steeper slopes.

My horse could hardly walk and by the time I reached the top it
would not move. The Cheyennes were close, singing and yelling, and
one called us women in our language.

I had my gun in my belt, my quiver under my left arm, and my
bow ready. Piegan, Pozash, and I scattered. The man speaking Crow
was Wears A Mustache, well known among us. When he called us
women again, challenging us to fight, I became angry. My horse had
started to walk and I just hoped it could reach some nearby woods.
I turned to shoot at Wears A Mustache, but was out of breath and
the arrow fell short.

I called out to Piegan, a little ahead of me, that we should die fight-
ing rather than be killed like this. He looked back but kept riding as
Pozash and I dismounted. Then Piegan dismounted and ran towards
us. First I took my muzzle loader, but after one shot it would be use-
less so I also grabbed my bow and arrows. As I ran towards a thick
pine grove I saw Pozash hit with a bullet.

One Cheyenne, holding a large feather-fringed shield, was running
after me and another kneeling man shot at me, his bullet kicking up
dirt between my legs. I took rny gun but changed my mind. When I
hit him with an arrow he limped back to his horse.

I had been running and dodging bullets but calmed down when I
wounded this man. As I headed again for that pine grove another bul-
let just missed me. Cheyennes were running to head me off, but then
I entered the trees and they seemed afraid to follow. I shot at them
once with my muzzle loader, and while they ducked I ran like a deer
and was soon out of sight.

By the time I made my way to the next slope I could see Cheyennes
in the lower meadow. I dared them to follow me. They must have
been very angry.

I had lost my horse and blanket, my moccasins were torn apart,
and my leggings and shirt were in rags. But I still held my gun,
bow, and arrows. Piegan appeared ahead of me and together we
headed home.

That night we were caught in a rainstorm and were miserable
without any blankets. There was little shelter in those mountains, and
anyhow we could not stop because Cheyennes might be behind us.

After killing a buffalo the following day we ate a little meat and
packed some and patched our moccasins. When we reached the Big-
42

horn River where it enters the canyon we built a raft, tied on our
clothes, and pulled it across with thongs held in our teeth. Once on
the other side we felt safer and a few days later arrived in our village,
still near the present town of Red Lodge. Everyone thought we had
been killed since Wolf Head and his men had already come back.

After my return I began thinking over all that had happened and
felt afraid. All those Cheyennes had been shooting at me and I had
lived. Pozash, who had been in much less danger, was dead. I de-
cided to fast for a vision in which I could see the Without Fire who
had been my protector.

When I told Wolf Chaser and Crooked Arm about my escape
they said I should stop going out. They were right and I told them I
wanted to go on my first fast soon. But I would not promise to wait
until I had obtained a medicine before leaving on another raid.

Wolf Chaser was afraid for me and one day gave me a medicine
bundle, teaching me the songs and ceremony for opening it and han-
dling it. I was thankful but did not feel it was very powerful. He had
never been a real warrior and preferred to live in camp.

43

Chapter

Prompted by the murder of a close relative or friend, the Crow

mourner who pledged to hold the Sun Dance sought through its

ordeal the spiritual assistance to wreak successful revenge. Thus the

Crow dance was not an annual rite, as among their neighbors, nor

was it a demonstration of piety. Describing it here, Two Leggings

omits the three days of preliminary rituals, recalling only his painful

participation in the ceremony's consummation, the self-torture.

While mourning the killing of his wife and son, the -first owner of

Shows His Face's Sun Dance bundle received a vision of both his

next wife and a Sun Dance doll. A year later, at a ceremony attended

by men only, this doll which he had seen was fashioned from the

center piece of a white-tailed deer's skin stuffed with a mixture of

sacred sweet grass, white pine needles, and hair from the temples

and chin of a mountain sheep. The doll, a kilt from a male black-tailed

deer's skin, a skunkskin necklace, a buffalo-hide rattle, a hair-lock

attachment, and a whistle carved from an eagle's wing-bone all were

enclosed within a boat-shaped container painted to represent the

mountains, the earth, the sky, and the rainbow (see photos of this

bundle). Before the dance of Shows His Face, the bundle was used

in the Sun Dances of Holds The Young Buffalo Tail and Puts

Earth On Top Of His Head.

SOON AFTER I returned from that raid when the Cheyennes had nearly
killed me, our camp moved to the Bighorn River near the present
town of Hardin. During our stay I heard that some young men were
leaving to fast in the Wolf Mountains and joined them. After com-
pleting our preparations we climbed one of the highest peaks and I
44

built my bed of rocks and pine branches. But my courage failed that
first night. I did not receive a vision and walked back to camp.

I was ashamed that I had not stayed the four days and nights and
vowed that next time I would not give in so easily.

Then an uncle of mine, Shows His Face, and two of his young sons
joined a war party against the Cheyennes. They were unlucky. One
of his sons, Crane Goes To The Wind, was killed; the other was so
badly wounded he died shortly afterward.

Their father was crazy with grief and for more than a moon sat
alone in the hills near camp. We could hear his wailing. I had been
fond of my cousins and also left camp to cry over them.

When my uncle finally returned to us he announced that during
his time in the hills he had received a dream promising him revenge
if he would be chief dancer in a Sun Dance.

He asked his friend, Puts Earth On Top Of His Head, the owner
of a Sun Dance medicine bundle containing a very powerful doll, to
act as ceremonial chief for the dance. My uncle was glad when his
friend agreed. 1

I took no part in the preparations but watched from a distant hill.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying himself except for us who were still
mourning.

I told Wolf Chaser that as soon as the Sun Dance lodge was erected
I would join the dancers. He thought that if I hoped to receive a
vision it would be better to fast on a mountaintop. But the dancing,
the fasting, and the torture of the Sun Dance were always considered
the strongest way to obtain a medicine. We were poor and I was
glad of this chance to know my sacred helper and improve my posi-
tion. Although my brother tried to keep me from entering the
Sun Dance lodge, I would not listen.

When the day came for the lodge to be erected and my brother
saw he could not talk me out of it he told me to cut a strong branch
of box elder and to borrow a buffalo hide rope. After cutting the
branch and borrowing the rope, I stripped to my breechcloth and
moccasins and went to the site of the Sun Dance lodge. There I met
Crooked Arm, one of the dance leaders, and asked him to prepare me.

First he told me to set my pole firmly in the ground inside the
lodge. Then he took a dish made of mountain sheep horn in which
he had mixed white clay, sweet grass, and water. Stirring this several
times, he ordered me to kneel and sang this song: "They want to have
a lot of things."

45

When he finished singing he painted one stripe of the mixture up
and down on my chest, one on my back, and one stripe down each
arm. After singing another medicine song he nibbed the mixture all
over my body and scratched five crosses into the clay with his finger
tips, one on my chest, and one at each elbow and each shoulder.
Finally he scratched a half circle from one side of my forehead to
the other.

After making me lie on my back he pinched up the skin on the
right side of my chest, stuck his knife through, and inserted a wooden
skewer. When he put another skewer on the left I did not show the
pain I felt. He hung a loop of buffalo rope, also painted with white
clay, over each skewer and tied the other ends to my pole. He placed
a skunkskin necklace around my neck, an eagle feather in my hair,
and a -whistle in my mouth.

Crooked Arm then told me that if I felt like crying I should, but
no longer than necessary. If I felt sick I was to look at the doll, which
would give me strength.

Six or seven men singers and three women singers entered the
lodge, the drums began, and I started to dance. The singers hardly
stopped between their songs and when they became tired new singers
took their place. I danced until the ropes were completely wound
around my body and then danced to unwind them, all the time lean-
ing my full weight on the thongs. I prayed to the Great Above Per-
son and the Without Fires to pity me, to give me bravery and success
in battle and a long life and wealth. Especially I asked for a vision
strong enough to help me make a name for myself.

I did not cry. I danced and prayed and sometimes blew my whistle,
keeping all my weight on the thongs. The people watching around
the dance lodge talked to us to keep us dancing. I forgot time and
everything else. Toward morning someone called to me that my
partners were resting and told me to lie down.

Then I felt my tiredness and could hardly move. But when I lay
down I could not sleep. It seemed only a short time later that
Crooked Arm jerked me up by my thumbs, telling me to be ready
to dance. The singers filed into the lodge and when the drummers
began they started: "Something you dance for is coming now."

We danced again around the pole and my skin seemed to stretch
forever. It was not so sore when I kept the thongs taut, but when I
let them go slack it hurt very much.

I suffered terribly that day. Many times I thought I was going to

faint, but I kept dancing. The sun rose higher, my pain increased
with the heat, and my thirst became unbearable. I envied the other
dancers when I heard them calling out a horse, a scalp, or some other
vision they had seen. I prayed for something soon so my suffering
would be over,

As I jerked on the thongs and tried to dance faster the left skewer
tore loose and blood ran down my body. Now the right side became
very painful. As I danced close to the pole where the rope had
wound itself I thought something appeared beside the doll. A vision
seemed about to come. I prayed harder and jerked with all my
strength. I must have been reeling when I realized that someone be-
side me was crying. It was a young woman, a cousin, who had been
watching my suffering. She stabbed herself in the forehead until her
face was covered with blood. When I noticed her what I thought was
going to be my vision went away. \ tried to dance, but I could hardly
move and felt about to faint.

Crooked Arm had been watching and now walked over to tell me
to stop. Holding me over a smudge of evergreen needles, he sang
this song: "Now I am just coming."

He cut two poles to support me under the arms, telling me to
watch the sun until it fell below the earth.

This was about noon. For the rest of that day I stood and watched
the sun, praying to the Great Above Person for his help in the things
I would try to do. That night little brush shelters were put up for
the dancers and I lay down to sleep.

Crooked Arm woke me the next morning to say that during the
night Shows His Face had received a vision of three enemy bodies
lying on the ground across the river. He asked if I had received any
vision. When I said no he spoke kindly, saying that I had gone
through the Sun Dance and now everyone would recognize me as a
man. In the future, he said, I would be sure to have better luck. When-
ever the leader received a vision the ceremony was over so Crooked
Arm helped me back to my brother's tipi. He told me to stop mourn-
ing and said that now I should marry.

Soon after this dance Shows His Face led a raid and found four
Sioux hunting buffalo at the place in his vision. The Crows attacked
and one Sioux escaped on a fast horse. But the other three were sur-
rounded and killed and no Crows were injured. His dream vision was
fulfilled through the powerful medicine of that Sun Dance doll and
bundle which I later bought.

47

My wounds healed after a while, but I was disappointed not to
have been rewarded with a medicine dream. I decided to fast as soon
as possible and hoped the Without Fires would look on me with
more favor then.

48

Chapter Ten

Although the Sun Dance ordeal made Two Leggings eligible for
marriage, the dual need for a fulfilling vision and a warrior's

reputation became his exclusive drive.

The ideal Crow marriage was between a man of about twenty-
five years with honors to his name and a girl just past puberty
who was no clan or kin relation. After offering horses to the girl's
brothers and meat to her mother, the young man received -presents in
return. When the couple went to live with his parents before setting
up their own tipi the girl would be presented with an elk-tooth dress.

But reality was something else. While fidelity was extolled in

women, a constant man 'was held up to ridicule. Lovers might meet

during the pairing-off at the cutting of tipi poles, when berry -picking,

or at nightfall at the edge of camp. A woman changed hands through

the wife-stealing rivalry of the Lumpwood and Fox warrior societies

or by the death of her husband) whereupon she might live with her

brother-in-law. She could succumb to the advances of a seducer, or a

Crazy Dog a warrior sworn to die on the battlefield could earn

her favors for his daring. However, her reputation declined with each

new partner.

Such customs shocked early chroniclers and gave the Crows
a reputation as the most dissolute of all plains tribes.

TOWARD LEAF-FALLING season we moved from the Musselshell River
to Elk River and then to the Bighorn River, camping near the present
town of Hardin. The valley seemed covered with buffalo and we
hunted for our winter supply. Then we broke camp again, forded the
river, and traveled down the valley, stopping in the cottonwood grove

49

where our dance hall now stands a few miles above the present Mis-
sion of St. Xavier.

The leaves were turning yellow and we expected the first snow any
day, but when we reached this place it was still hot. As we passed the
flat before the grove, I noticed thousands of prairie dogs sitting on
their haunches and barking at us.

The next morning the men were parading around on their finest
horses, singing love songs and joyful songs. The girls, whom I was just
beginning to notice, were dressed in their best clothes. Someone told
me that a big dance would be held that night.

It was a day to make anyone happy, but I was still disappointed over
my failure to receive a vision during the Sun Dance. Without it I could
never hope for success on the warpath. So I decided to go on a fast.
This time I would stay and torture myself, trusting that the Great
Above Person would help me.

In my tipi I wrapped an elkskin shield cover around my shoulders
because it was strong medicine. Picking up a newly tanned elk robe,
I went to the river, took a sweat bath, bathed, and went to the prairie-
dog town.

As I walked among the barking and staring prairie dogs I thought
that maybe these earth creatures who live underground as the birds
live in the sky could help me receive a powerful medicine.

I found the biggest hill in the dog town and dug away some earth
with my knife to make a more comfortable resting place. Then I lay
down, facing the east. The next morning I awoke to prairie dogs bark-
ing all around me. As I walked around I found a root-digger's stick. I
turned toward the sun and drew out my long knife. On the ground
I crossed the knife and the stick and then raised my left index finger.

I called the sun my grandfather and said that I was about to sacrifice
my finger end to him. I prayed that some bird of the sky or animal of
the earth would eat it and give me good medicine because I wanted to
be a great chief some day and have many horses. I said that I did not
want to stay poor.

Kneeling, I placed my finger on the stick and hacked off the end.
Then I held the finger end up to the sun with my right hand and said
my prayer again. Finally I left the finger end on a buffalo chip where
it would be eaten by some bird or animal.

For three days and nights I lay in that dog town, without eating or
drinking. In the dark-face time of the fourth night I heard a voice call-
ing from somewhere. Lying very still, I heard it again, but could not
50

locate it. The next time I heard the words of my first medicine song
and I never forgot them: "Anywhere you go, anywhere you go, you
will be pleased."

I saw the face of a man who was singing and shaking a buffalo-hide
rattle. I also heard a woman's voice but could see only her eyes and
the beautiful hair on top of her head. They filled me with joy and I
thought that if I ever saw a woman with those eyes I would marry
her. Then the voices sang: "You. I am coming. There is another one
coming."

Many people seemed to be talking and I became confused. My vision
people seemed to be coming from behind a hill. First I saw the man's
head and then I saw him from the waist up. After his song he faced
east and shouted. Then he shouted to the north and finally to the west.
The singing grew faster and I fell back as if drunk. When he shook his
rattle I saw a face painted on it. The man was painted with red stripes
across his chest and face and other stripes running up and down under
his eyes and nose. A mouth opened in a face painted on the rattle, and
I began to faint. The woman did not show any more of her face or
body but kept singing, and I learned the words to her other song:
"I am doing it now. I am doing it now. Discovered Plant. 1 I am
making his lodge. I am doing it now."

A voice told me that if Comes Out Of The Water 2 came to me I
would have much property. The woman kept telling me that what I
was wishing for had come true. I noticed the parting in her hair was
painted yellow. Then someone seemed to be driving horses toward me.
As they drew closer I recognized Shot In The Face walking behind
them. The horses were real and I had woken. Shot In The Face said
that he had watched me staggering around but did not realize that I
had been fasting. He was sorry to have disturbed me and asked where
my blanket was. I saw it was some distance away and then noticed my
swollen finger. Although it hurt badly I was more unhappy not to
have dreamt all my dream. I had intended to stay another night but
felt too weak and returned to camp. My finger was bandaged in my
tipi. After eating a little food I slept.

I did not think my dream was powerful, but at least I had some
medicine songs I had dreamt myself. These were much more powerful
and valuable than the ones I had sung before in battle, which had been
bought or given to me. I did not tell my friends or the medicine men
about my dream. As soon as possible I would fast again for a
stronger vision.

5*

In the meantime I did not want to remain in camp. When I heard
that Crazy Sister In Law was going out I found him. He said that
he had noticed me in the Sun Dance and wanted such brave men.

Now it was late in leaf-falling moon and the nights were cold. One
morning at dawn we gathered on the outskirts of our village. I carried
my flintlock, the powder horn and bullet bag were on a strap at my
side, and my bow case and quiver hung on my back. But I was not
warmly dressed and the men called me Belly Robe because of the old
wrinkled buffalo robe wrapped around my waist.

The pipeholder often selected younger men for his scouts so I was
not surprised when Crazy Sister In Law chose me. It was a good sign
when he gave me the coyote skin to carry. In my last dream my spirit
man had carried a coyote skin over his arm. Now I was a scout, soon I
would be a pipeholder, and then I would be a chief. But I still said
nothing to my friends.

The other scouts, Woman Does Not Know Anything, Spotted
Horse, and Medicine Father, picked me as leader because I was the
only sun dancer. As soon as we left, Woman Does Not Know Any-
thing and I rode ahead to cover the country for game or enemy signs,
arranging with Crazy Sister In Law to meet at a place on the Mussel-
shell River.

The two of us rode all that day without seeing any signs, while the
other two scouts kept us in contact with our men. At dusk we headed
for the meeting place. Crazy Sister In Law was inside the brush shelter
which his helpers had built and he invited me to sit next to him across
from the entrance. It was the first time in my life that I sat there and
for a while I could not speak. Crazy Sister In Law filled his pipe and
after we had smoked I gave my report. No one else had any luck lo-
cating meat and we went to sleep hungry.

At daybreak the four of us set out again. I carried my coyote skin
and we all painted our faces red. The older men taught us to carry red
paint ground from rocks, explaining that it is part of the everlasting
earth and would protect us,

For a long time we rode without seeing any animals. Finally we
came to a bluff giving us a wide view. Since I had not slept well the
night before I told my companions to wake me if they saw anything.
The wind was blowing hard and I lay down in the shelter of a little
knoll, folding my coyote skin next to me.

I dreamt the coyote skin stood up and began howling. It faced east
5*

and then north and finally sang this song: "I am going far. I shall bring
some bones."

It howled again, still facing east while it sang another song: "I shall
have a good time."

Then it threw a bone into the air which came down covered with
meat. I noticed that the coyote's paws and face were painted red. It
howled and sang a third song: "My partner. I am going. He is lying
still."

This meant that the coyote saw an enemy's body lying on the
ground. Then it howled a fourth time, faced south, and sang a
fourth song: "This is the land where I used to live. Look that way. I
want that over there."

I looked in that direction and a black horse was galloping away.
My foot was kicked and Woman Does Not Know Anything was
standing over me, saying that the other scouts had already left. That
coyote had shown me where to find meat, where I would kill an
enemy, and where I would capture a beautiful black horse. But I was
sorry I had been woken. I might have learned more. I carefully
picked up the coyote sldn and followed my friends. On the way I
told them to say thank you. After saying it they asked what it meant
and I told them of my dream and pointed out a high ridge to the
west. On the other side, I said, would be buffalo.

Spotted Horse was on the fastest horse and reached the ridge top
before we were at the foot. We saw him looking, and then he took
the blanket from his shoulders and waved it at us. We thought he
meant enemies and made signs back. But he held up the robe's points,
which meant buffalo. Joining him we saw three animals grazing down
the slope. Someone said we should pray and sacrifice to the Great
Above Person, so we all prayed that we would like to eat some of
this meat. If we killed a buffalo we vowed to sacrifice skin from our
hands.

The dream had been mine so I did the shooting. Hanging the
coyote skin over my shoulders with the head piece over my fore-
head, I began to crawl on my hands and knees while two scouts
circled to drive the buffalo toward me.

At last a buffalo walked close, thinking I was a coyote. As it pawed
the ground I killed it with one shot in the left side.

Each of us pinched the skin on the left hand between two fingers,
stuck in an awl to hold the skin up, and cut off a small piece with a

53

knife. We made a prayer of thanks as we sacrificed this skin to the
Great Above Person. Then we roasted some of the meat for our-
selves. The other three butchered the rest and carried the pieces to
our starving companions not far behind. I did not carry any because
I was the leader. We met no enemies on that trip and soon returned
to our village.

54

Chapter Eleven

Songs 'were an integral part of the medicine

power which Two Leggings f was attempting to accumulate through

these early "fasts. While personal songs received under

these arduous circumstances were considered the most important

kind and were often passed -from -father to son, songs played an

essential role in every major and minor Crow ceremony

and every Crow social dance. "They were also a formalized

means for communicating emotions upon occasions running

from the seduction of one's wife to the preparation for death when

the end appeared imminent.

Some songs, such as children's lullabies,

were public property. Others were spur-of-the-moment

creations, quickly -forgotten. If a particular medicine song proved

to benefit its owner, less successful warriors paid much for its

rights.

Before he ever received his own songs,

Two Leggings gave a buffalo's hindquarter to Bear and his

wife. In gratitude the renowned old warrior permitted the youth

to sing his personal war song: "Friend, we will go there. I would

like to have plenty. I have plenty"

"Friend" Two Leggings explained, was

the Without Fire visitor of Bear's medicine dream. "We will go

there" expressed the singer's request that this sacred helper

accompany his coming raid. "I would like to have plenty" spoke

his hopes for that raid, and "I have plenty" his assurance that

those hopes would be realized.

55

I HAD HOPED for better luck on that war party when I was leader of
the scouts, and still felt I did not have a strong medicine. After our
return I went deer-hunting for skins for moccasins, and then camp
moved from the Musselshell River to the Elk River where I killed
several buffalo for robes. Traveling slowly up Elk River, we finally
camped close to the present town of Livingston, at the foot of a place
we called Bad Mountain.

After those hunts I was more unhappy and took only a small part
in the dances and celebrations. My brother noticed this and one night
in his dpi asked what was wrong. When I explained he said that no
one should go out as often as I did without some protection. I told
him that I had fasted and received a vision, but he said I had never
told him about it and would be killed if I kept on.

The next morning Medicine Crow, Young Mountain, Blue Handle,
Walking Mouse, Bull Does Not Fall Down, and others whose names
I have forgotten joined me in a ceremonial sweat bath. That after-
noon we started to climb Bad Mountain, each of us carrying a newly
tanned buffalo hide painted all over with white clay.

On our climb we passed a spring and stopped to take off our cloth-
ing, wash, and clean our fingernails and toenails. Then we built a
fire, dropping in some pine needles to purify our bodies with their
smoke.

It was a long climb and although leaf -falling moon had just arrived
the weather was hot. We were tired as each man selected his spot,
built a rock bed, and covered it with fresh pine branches. Then we
prayed and slept under our buffalo robes.

That night none of us received a vision, but we continued our fast,
praying and weeping through the following day. The second night
I dreamt of a man telling me that a bird sitting on top of Bad Moun-
tain would see me the next night. The dream ended as the man dis-
appeared. The following morning I woke to find the others prepar-
ing a meal down the mountainside. When I joined them, Medicine
Crow said that they had not dreamt and he thought we should break
our fast.

I told them that they could return home but I was wanted on the
mountaintop that night. Then Medicine Crow decided to stay on,
but Little Fire, Young Mountain, Blue Handle, and the others said
that they would wait at the foot of the mountain. They lacked the
courage to fast one more day.

I chose a new resting place and fasted for three more days and
nights, growing very hungry and thirsty. All the time I prayed and
my heart pounded like a drum.

After dark-face time of the third night, rain fell, and I crawled
from my place underneath an overhanging rock to lie on my back
and catch drops. I must have fallen asleep because a voice on my right
told me to look at a man over there who was well known all over the
world. The voice said that he was Sits Down and that he was sitting
on the mountaintop.

Looking up I saw a person with clouds floating in front of his
mouth. A ring of clouds hung above his head, but then I saw that it
was really a hoop with many kinds of birds flying around it. An old
eagle flew and perched on this hoop.

When a voice asked if I knew that I was known all over the earth
I did not answer.

The person's face was painted with pink stripes down his cheeks
which meant the clouds. Then clouds rolled in front of him, and when
they separated, his face was painted with a wide red stripe across his
forehead. This meant I would get what I wanted. His eyebrows were
painted yellow and this meant sight. He sang this song: "I am going
to make the wind come. I am going to make the rain come."

A different voice said that all the birds of the air were going to
show their feeling toward me and that it would come true. After some
silence this second voice said that it had been told to sing. Now I
understood that the second voice was the cloud person's servant who
had been instructed to give me a medicine song: "Come. Long ago.
Thanks. You will be a chief."

I followed the man-in-the-cloud's pointing arm and saw a large
number of horses appear above the horizon.

The words "come" and "long ago" referred to a time years before
when I had joined some boys on a fast on this mountain. Although
we had tortured ourselves we had been too young and had given up
when we became hungry.

The dream was over and I woke to the rising sun. Soon Medicine
Crow walked over and pointed down the mountainside to our people
breaking camp.

After joining our friends down the mountainside we all walked to
the valley. Medicine Crow told me that he was afraid he would never
live to be an old man. (But his life disproved this. When he died in the

57

summer of 1020, he was over seventy years old.) He did not tell what
he had seen but he felt miserable and was so weak he could hardly
walk.

Three other young men who had come signalled with a blanket for
us to join them on a ridge top. Before reaching them we came upon
some antelope, killed one, and built a cooking fire. We finally walked
into camp just as it was pulling out for the Musselshell River.

During the time we camped along that river an old man named
Four Dance visited our tipi and told us the story of his medicine
dream. It made a great impression on me. This was his story.

I had three older brothers, Passes All The Women, Does Not Care
For Women, and Women Leggings. Now they are all in the Other
Side Camp.

When I was about seventeen I wanted to make a name for myself.
But my older brothers would never let me join a raid. We were living
with our grandmother, Holds By The Gun, because our parents had
died long before.

Once my brothers were gathering their weapons for a raid. When
my grandmother asked them to pity me they said I was too fat to
run. She told Does Not Care For Women that they were wrong not
to take me and that she would help me.

The next day, after they had left, she called for me. Holding a big
bundle, she explained that this powerful medicine had belonged to
her grandfather and contained a Sun Dance doll and a skunkskin. If
I took it to a high ridge and fasted and prayed she was sure the Great
Above Person would pity me because the bundle had brought power-
ful dreams the few times it had been used.

We were camped along Elk River near the present town of Billings.
Some young men and I climbed the rimrocks along the southern shore.
My grandmother had loaned me a white-painted buffalo robe and had
given me a stick hung with two eagle feathers and painted with white
clay. After building my rock pile on the highest place I planted this
stick at the head and fasted for four days.

On the morning of the fifth day I woke and thought about going
home. Everyone else had left. But I fell asleep again and saw seven
men and one woman far off to the west. At first they seemed to be
standing on Bad Mountain in the Crazy Mountains north of the pres-
ent town of Livingston which we also call the Bird Home Moun-

58

tains. As I watched they sang a song. The second time they appeared
on Snow Mountain in the Crazy Mountains. One man was dancing
and wore feathers tied like a fan behind his head. His face was painted
with lines across his cheeks and forehead. Then they disappeared,
and the third time I saw them standing on Bear Head, one of the bluffs
between the present towns of Park City and Columbus. The men
held up drums but I could see their painted faces through the drum-
heads. A skunk inside one drum had fire burning in both ears. The
seven men and the woman were singing and dancing but I could not
hear the words. They disappeared again, returning a fourth time on
the rimrocks north of the present town of Billings, singing: "Buffalo
are coming toward me."

Then they stood in front of my rock pile. When they threw off my
blanket I lay still. They hid their eyes with eagle feathers and sang
again: "Your poles are bulrushes."

Beating their drums, they tried to prevent me from seeing what
they held. I thought it was iny grandmother's doll but then I saw it
was a screech owl. When the owl sat on my chest they sang again:
"Beat the drums."

A man stood on my right, his face covered with a large elk robe.
Suddenly he threw it off, pulled out his flintlock, and shot the owl.
It hooted and I think went inside my body. The man picked up some
dirt and put it in his gun, saying that rocks all over the earth are hard
but that even if all the guns were aimed at me I would not be hurt.

Then he shot at me, and the owl, which had returned to my chest,
jumped aside. I felt myself bouncing up and down. A big black owl
flew up from the valley and sat beside me. The man holding the gun
told the other people that I was poor and that they might help me.

The black owl sang this song: "I shall run all over the earth."

When he had finished I noticed the trees had turned into people
who were all shooting at the owl. A few feathers dropped as it flew
away and returned again. Some tree people gave me small pieces of
meat. Some of my own horses appeared and I noticed one dead on the
ground. I thought it meant bad luck.

When I first woke I thought I had been shot and that my dream had
been given by some bad spirit.

After returning to camp I gave my medicine back to my grand-
mother, but it was not time to tell her about my dream. She seemed
worried since the bundle had always brought powerful visions before.

Some of our best-known medicine men thought my dream was very

59

strong and that I would never be killed in battle. Then I told my
grandmother.

One day after I had married I was camped close to the Arrowhead
Mountains near a good spring. A man rode up to my tipi and, point-
ing to some willows near the spring, said that enemies had built
trenches there. They could not be chased away since the best war-
riors were hunting. He had heard of my dream and asked me to do
something.

I told him to wait and went inside. After painting yellow stripes
across my eyes and zigzag lines from my forehead down across my
cheeks, I put on a fringed buckskin shirt decorated with large quill-
work circles on front and back. I also hung two red sashes under each
arm and wore a scalp-lock necklace. When I walked toward the
enemies my wife came behind holding one sash. After stopping four
times I told her to go back.

They had covered their trench with bijckskins and dirt and now
raised the cover to fire, but I continued walking. A few feet away
one man shot at me but missed. Another jumped out and held his
gun muzzle against my chest. But when the gun went off I was not
shot. As I walked I made a noise like a hooting owl and sang my medi-
cine song. Behind me our men began firing. The enemies tried to es-
cape from their trenches but then they were in the open and all were
killed.

I was never wounded and only once had a horse killed under me.
My dream was powerful and though I had been a poor boy I grew
to be a chief and a medicine man.

I was excited by this story and hoped to make a name for myself
the same way. But I needed a strong medicine to protect me and de-
cided to fast again soon.

60

Chapter Twelve

In their youth Two Leggings and his

companions had to elicit visions through rigorous, ritualized

suffering. Later on they received prophetic dreams

without preliminary ordeal and even experienced unexpected

visions.

The Crows distinguished four grades

of dreams. In "no-account dreams" one saw when asleep some
incident which merely left a vague sensation.

"Wish" dreams contained some

medicine power. However, being little more than hopeful references

to property and different seasons, they did not always

come true. The dreams which Two Leggings' aged guests

give him when they attend his sweat-lodge ceremony are of

this type.

Third were the definite "property" dreams.

In them a man saw blankets, shawls, warbonnets, horses, and

the like, which he later acquired through actual events.

Finally there were the "medicine dreams"

or "visions" Although Wildschut uses the words almost

interchangeably, their slight difference is demonstrated when Sees

The Living Bull mentions his fourth fast's medicine dream

turning into "a real vision" once he had been woken by rain. In

these the faster received, through his sacred helper, his medicine

and its accompanying instructions.

DURING THE SNOW SEASON we camped on Arrow Creek, but when the
snow melted and the ice left the rivers we moved to Dry Head Creek

61

between Arrow Creek and the Bighorn River. Soon after our tipis
were pitched, eight of us left camp to fast in the Bighorn Mountains,
planning to climb a mountain on the east side of Black Canyon called
Where The Thunderbird Sits Down Mountain.

Most of our people were afraid of this place because it was the
Thunderbird's home. Long ago a man named Covers Himself With
The Grass was traveling through this country. He heard a strange
noise and looked up to see the Thunderbird flying down. His horse
bucked and when he dismounted, it ran off . With his rawhide rope
he tied himself to a tree at the canyon bottom. The rush of air from
the Thunderbird's wings was so strong the trees on both sides were
uprooted. Covers Himself With The Grass was saved, but his tree
was thrown about until he was sure it would pull up.

We decided to fast there because we wanted a stronger medicine.
Medicine Crow, Young Mountain, Mouse Walks, Shows His Tail,
and I were all close friends, but Young Rabbit, Plenty Screeching
Owl, and Yellow Weasel were nearly strangers to us.

Each man carried his own robe painted with white clay. When we
reached the foot of the mountain we took a sweat bath and cleaned
ourselves. Building a fire we purified our bodies in sweet-sage smoke,
and then painted ourselves with white clay. We arrived at the top
before dark and built our little rock piles two feet above the ground.
Covering them with fresh pine branches, we then laid down flat rocks.

I asked Young Mountain to help me sacrifice my flesh and he lifted
the skin on my left arm, cutting out a piece that looked like a horse
track. I hoped to steal horses and had asked for that cut. Then I
faced east, held the piece up to the sky, and told the Great Above
Person that I wished for some animal to eat this and help me receive
a powerful medicine. I also asked for a long life.

Plenty Screech Owl had Young Mountain cut a horse track on his
arm. His was larger but when I asked Young Mountain to cut me
again he said mine was big enough.

Medicine Crow said he was going to cut off the tip of his right
index finger but instead had Young Mountain cut horse tracks on
his arm. Again I asked to have my cut enlarged and Young Moun-
tain punished me by cutting many small tracks. Then he sliced off
the end of his own index finger. We all stood in a row, raised our
sacrifices to the sky, and prayed out loud for a long time.

I was surprised that Medicine Crow had joined us again. His father
was Sees The Living Bull, one of our most powerful medicine men,
62

who could have made his son a good medicine. But Medicine Crow
told me later that his father encouraged him to obtain his own medi-
cine, saying that then he could care for his own children when Sees
The Living Bull died.

Stretching out on my back I watched the moon and stars by night,
and followed the sun through the next day. As I prayed I grew very
thirsty.

After the second night five men wanted to return home. I did not
think about giving in and let them leave. Medicine Crow and Young
Mountain also stayed on.

We told the returning men to kill an elk at the foot of the moun-
tain, to cache the meat, and then to tell our families we were staying
all four nights.

A strange noise rushing up the mountainside woke me early the
third day. Immediately I thought of the Thunderbird and grew afraid.
As it drew near I pulled my robe around me. I felt better when it
proved to be a hailstorm, and cut leafy branches to protect myself.
Then all became quiet again. I lay and thought of all the animals of
this earth, praying that the Great Above Person would lead one to
me in my sleep, that it would eat my flesh and become my sacred
helper for the rest of my life.

All the next day I watched the sky and slept. At dark-face time
that night the vision of my last fast came again. When I woke it was
nearly dawn but one bright star shone above the eastern horizon. Af-
ter I saw it I covered my head with my robe and fell asleep again.
A man appeared above the horizon and a voice which I could not
locate spoke to me. The man was waist-high above the horizon where
the sun would soon rise. A hawk perched on a hoop on his head.
Something red in the right side of the man's hair grew larger and
finally colored the entire sky. A streak of the brightest red went up
the middle. The man asked if I knew the name of the bird on his head.
I lay still without speaking. He said the name of the bird was The
Bird Above All The Mountains. In the future, he said, people would
hear about me all over the earth. 1 Then I learned my vision man's
song: "Thank you. A long time going to be a chief. Thank you again."

Behind me I heard a voice but saw no one else. It told me to look
at that man on the horizon whose name was Looks All Over The
Earth.

When I saw my vision man again a large black eagle was flying over
his head. The hoop where the hawk was sitting was painted partly

blue, which meant the earth, partly yellow, which meant the day, and
partly black, which meant the night. The man took off the hoop,
looked at it, and told me to look around.

After singing another song, he held the hoop before his eyes. Al-
though he was seeing several visions, \ saw nothing. The other voice
behind me said to look west and asked if I saw the trail.

Through the hoop held before my eyes I had a vision of a trail
running from the west, where the wind comes from, and heading
east. At its end I saw a tipi and grazing horses. Between us snow cov-
ered the ground. Then a big eagle flew over my head and I noticed
its claws. The voice behind me said to look toward the Musselshell
River. Turning in that direction and looking through the hoop I saw
bodies on the ground. The eagle hung over them and pretended to
grab one. My dream man sang: "Thank you. A long time going to be
a chief. Thank you again,"

My vision man said that Wolf Runner was coming to see me. He
said that the big eagle was the same one which had visited me on Bad
Mountain.

Then the voice behind me said to look east, where I saw a big sweat
lodge built of forty-four willows and four small sweat lodges of four
branches each, all close to the Bighorn River where my future house
would stand. Whenever I wanted to go on the warpath, the voice said,
I must build those sweat lodges and sacrifice to him and his kind.

The sun was just rising as I woke, covered with perspiration. My
blanket lay apart from me. Standing up, I thanked the Great Above
Person for my vision and medicine. Young Mountain came over and
asked if I wanted to stay. Since 1 had received my medicine we left.
I had felt weak and exhausted but now my energy seemed to return.
My arm had hurt and I had lost much blood but now I hardly
noticed it.

Medicine Crow, Young Mountain, and I walked to the foot of the
mountain where our five friends were waiting. After enjoying a meal
of elk meat we lit a pipe. Someone said that since this was the only
time we could speak about our visions we should smoke this pipe and
tell what had come to us.

When my turn came I smoked and said that I had seen the same
person who had appeared to me on Bad Mountain. I told about the
horses but said I did not understand the snow's meaning.

Young Mountain said we Crows knew less than half the earth peo-
ple; to have them all know me meant something great.

Medicine Crow held the pipe and said he had seen a man and had
dreamt a good dream. But then another spirit he could not see told him
that the first man was a bad spirit who spoke lies. The second spirit
then appeared as a man wearing a buffalo robe with the hair side out.
But Medicine Crow could not see his face. Telling Medicine Crow to
look toward the joining of the Little Bighorn and Bighorn rivers, he
said that something was shining over there. He was to remember this
because when that thing would really be there he would become a
chief.

(Many years later, when Fort Custer was built near these rivers, we
noticed how some windows shone in the light of the setting sun. Med-
icine Crow became a chief about the time the fort was completed.)

Young Mountain told Medicine Crow he did not think the vision
very powerful. Mine had been best, he said, for the world was large
and if I became known all over that meant something powerful. He
could hardly believe it. I assured him it was true and added that as
soon as I was a pipeholder we would not have to follow other men.

When the pipe was handed to Young Mountain he said that al-
though he had cut off his fingertip he had not received a dream.

Shows His Tail was passed the pipe and said he was a man like us.
He had seen an enemy's body lying along the creek which runs be-
tween the Little Bighorn River and Rotten Grass Creek. He said that
when we killed an enemy there he would strike the first coup.

The rest had not dreamt anything so we started back to camp, ar-
riving at sunset. When my brother asked if I had received a vision I
said that I had, and he was pleased that now I would have better luck.

Shortly afterward Shows His Tail went on a raid and took an
enemy scalp at the place in his dream.

Chapter Thirteen

When Two Leggings bemoans his orphaned state it is more

rhetoric than -fact. He completely neglects another social group in

Crow society, -from 'which no one was excluded.

At birth every Crow baby belonged to the one of thirteen clans to

'which his mother belonged. Among members of these ^lodges 'where

there is driftwood" as the Crows called clans, existed the solidarity

of wood entwined. Fellow members feasted together, assisted their

clan brothers about to be initiated into the Tobacco society, and aided

widowed and orphaned members. However it was forbidden to marry

within one's own clan.

Sometimes clans temporarily separated from a larger band for

hunting purposes. But unity among all clans was the communal hope.

When a conflict arose between two clans, the camp police and

neutral clans would try to bring about peace, pleading,

"we are one people"

Two Leggings himself belonged to the Not Mixed Clan, so called

because when the Big Belly clan was renamed most of its members

were war leaders who did not associate with ordinary folk.

Obligations were also due toward members of one's father's clan. A

man could not cross a paternal clansman 's path without giving him a

present, and he would often feast these clansmen and present them

with gifts. Sometimes they became a child's name father and, as in

Two Leggings* case, a medicine father.

AFTER THAT FAST our camp moved to Hits With The Arrows. On
the way I told Young Mountain and Piegan who was also called
Walks Toward The Two Mountains that I was ready for a raid.
66

They were my partners 1 and when they asked to join I told them to
gather sixteen willow branches and some charcoal and to meet me the
next morning.

At dawn we rode to a hill top. With the willows I built four small
sweat lodges, crossing the branches two by two and setting them in a
row with their openings toward the rising sun This was also toward
the Sioux country, which my medicine person had pointed out for my
next raid. I powdered the charcoal, mixed it with buffalo grease, and
rubbed this all over the branches to show revenge. In tiny holes in
the center of these lodges I made little fires and burnt bear root 2 shav-
ings. Then I cut a long slender pole and tied a red blanket with a
black circle and four black crosses to the top. The circle meant the
hoop I had seen and the four crosses the four directions my vision
man had shown me. After planting the pole before one lodge I faced
the sun, said "aho" three times, and sang my vision song: "Thank you.
A long time. You are going to be a chief. Thank you again."

I prayed to the One In The Sky and to all up there that I wanted
a long life, that tonight when the stars were out I wished them to
visit my sweat lodges. If I was lucky on my raid I promised to make
these lodges again for them, and to make them every time I went out.

When I sat down Young Mountain said that he had never seen sweat
lodges made of only four willows. I explained how the voice had
shown them to me, instructing me to build them before every raid.

My prayers and sacrifice over, we set out on foot toward the Sioux
country. Later that day, as we came upon a small buffalo herd, I
crawled within range of a fat cow, rested my flintlock on a forked
stick I usually carried, and killed it with one shot. We ate and then
cut some meat into strips which we strung on sticks for each man to
hang on his back. That night we built a little brush shelter. Before
going to sleep Young Mountain said that he and Piegan were worried
that I carried no medicine for our protection.

I said that those four sweat lodges had been given to me for a med-
icine. But I promised that when I was a pipeholder I would carry a
medicine whenever I left camp. Reminding him that he had a father
and a mother to help him, I said that I was an orphan and had to depend
on myself to discover right and wrong. He knew my brother was not
a warrior and could not help me. Although many of the Wise Ones
in camp would not like what I was doing, I said that if I sat in camp
wishing for someone to give me a medicine nothing would ever hap-
pen I must find out for myself and be very careful to avoid bad luck

67

Only that way would the Wise Ones begin to trust me and look on
me as a man. Their hearts would soften and they would help me. I
assured Young Mountain that these sweat lodges were my medicine
now and would protect us for this trip.

He said that then he wished I had brought them, but since they had
come this far they would follow me. I admitted pretending to be a
pipeholder without a pipe, but I urged him not to be afraid and prom-
ised again to make a medicine on our return.

We traveled east along the Elk River, sleeping several times before
finally reaching the country around the present town of Forsyth.
There we spotted seven horses grazing on a high hill south of the
river. Although we saw no enemies we knew they must be near and
hid in the brush of a nearby coulee. After a while Young Mountain
went for a closer look while Piegan and I ate dried meat. The sun was
in the middle when Young Mountain returned to report that they
were strays. Now they were grazing downhill beside some buffalo.
He described a fine brown mare with a colt, but said the others
looked poor.

Leaving our hiding place we lit some dry buffalo manure and held
it in our hands as we walked around the horses. When they tried to
smell us and stood still, we slowly approached, walked them to
water, and drove them back to a high bank where we roped the
brown mare. The rest did not run and we roped one after another,
finishing about dark and eating again. Piegan had been looking them
over and thought they belonged to a bunch stolen from Cutting Tur-
nip the leaf -falling season before.

Since rny vision's first part had come true I wanted to be careful.
The enemies who had lost their stolen horses might still be around. At
first we were afraid they were unbroken. But after Young Mountain
jumped on the brown mare, Piegan and I chose mounts. Riding as far
as Porcupine Creek that first night, we made camp close to the river.
Two days later we arrived near our village at Rock Pile, close to the
Buffalo Heart Mountain and northwest of the present town of Cody.

As we rode into the village in the morning, driving four horses and
a colt before us, we sang victory songs and shot our guns into the
air. A dance was set up in our honor and the older men praised my
name. I was proud, but I did not forget to thank the Great Above
Person for the great medicine dream.

I had been careful because my future depended on not hurting my-
self or those with me. Although few honors were won this trip I had
68

brought horses, which are always valuable, and I had tested my medi-
cine vision. My medicine person had asked me to look east and had
shown me horses close to where I found them. My dream was real,
and I wanted to go in the other directions to make it all come true.

Some pipeholders did not like my leading a war party without hav-
ing been accepted as one of them. They said bad things would come
of it, but the younger men admired and encouraged me. About this
time I was initiated into the Lumpwood warrior society and felt this
another step toward improving my standing.

A few days later my brother said that if I had decided to become
a pipeholder I should ask a leading medicine man to make me a dup-
licate medicine. But I still thought I could do all these things alone
and would not listen.

When I asked Young Mountain to join another horse-stealing raid
he asked where and I said north to the mouth of Wolf Creek as my
vision had directed. He asked me to carry a real pipe this time, even
if we did not smoke it, and also suggested we take some boys as help-
ers and scouts. Then it would appear that I was a real pipeholder.

He was right but we would have to find boys I could trust since
the chief would never allow me to pretend I was a pipeholder. If he
heard about this or the camp police caught me my weapons would
be broken and I would be beaten. But if a person who disobeyed was
successful all could be forgotten. I was headstrong and would not
wait for anything or ask anyone for help. And I was sure I would
return successfully.

But I promised to follow Young Mountain's suggestions. That night
I stood in front of Rattle's tipi and told him to come outside. When I
asked if he wanted to join us he said that he would have to wait un-
til his people were asleep. Then he would take his father's bow and
arrows, spare moccasins, and horse.

I offered him some moccasins. Young Mountain walked up and the
three of us sat in the bushes, watching his tipi. His father came home,
the fire burned lower, and we knew they were asleep.

Rattle crawled into the tipi and a little later came out with the bow
and quiver over his shoulder. When his father said something Rattle
straightened and ran for his father's horse. Then we heard his father
wake his wife.

Rattle reached his horse, quickly tied its mouth with a rope he had
borrowed from me, and jumped on. But he had forgotten that the
horse was picketed to a stake. The rope drew tight and the horse
fell. His father grabbed him on the ground.

69

Rattle began crying, saying that he was only taking things because
he was afraid his father would not let him leave.

His father was not angry but said he should have asked first. Then
he called us over and asked us to wait until the next day when he
could give his son a good horse and spare moccasins. He said he
would not stop Rattle, because it showed he was going to be a man,
but that it was not good to steal.

After they had gone inside Young Mountain wanted to leave be-
cause if we had bad luck the boy's parents would blame us. He was
right and also in daylight the camp police could easily spot us. That
night we slipped out.

At sunup I built the four medicine sweat lodges and prayed for
success. Then we rode north to the Piegans. After several days we
approached their country and began riding carefully from hilltop to
hilltop.

Finally, we spotted a Piegan camp in the distance, moving in our
direction. Afraid scouts might be in front, we hid all that day in a
thick grove of cottonwoods and chokecherry bushes. As the sun was
setting we saw them pitch their camp close to a creek and turn their
horses out to graze.

Young Mountain asked me to sing a medicine song and to promise
that if we had good luck I would make a medicine when we returned.
I had the pipe tied to my belt, but did not want to risk the anger of
some Without Fire by using it. Besides, I did not even know the
ceremony.

It had been dark for some time when we finally left the grove. Soon
we heard dogs barking and Piegans talking. When Young Mountain
asked me to sing again I told him not to worry and reminded him
of my dream of the buckskin horse I was to steal on this northern
trip. After promising again to make a medicine when we got back I
sang a medicine song in a low voice.

No one seemed to be guarding the horses that were grazing a little
apart from camp. Crawling on our hands and knees until we saw them
clearly, I pointed to the buckskin I would go after while Young
Mountain tried for the pintos. However, I told him to leave with
whatever horses he could quickly round up, I could remember when
he had crawled right among the tipis, and I wanted no bad luck when
I was responsible.

I roped my horse and drove off several others, while Young Moun-
tain caught a good-looking sorrel and also drove away some more.

Together we had twelve and for the rest of that night we rode as
70

fast as we could, continuing through the next day. Then we stopped
briefly to give our horses a little grass and water.

Young Mountain picked up a spotted eagle's tail feather on our
way, thinking it was better if I carried something that looked like a
medicine. For a long time afterward I wore it in my hair.

The morning after the fifth night we came in sight of our camp. I
sang another medicine song as we drove our horses through the tipis
and the people came out to watch: "I went by here. The last one was
the best."

Everybody greeted us and my name was spoken. Young men came
to my tipi at night to ask to join my next raid. But I was afraid to
let them without the consent of their parents or the medicine men.
I had no relatives and as long as I took only one or two friends noth-
ing was said. The old medicine men would shake their heads and say
something bad would happen, but that "was my worry.

As usual camp life grew tiresome. Piegan had been staying at an-
other camp and when I met him again I asked him to join me on a
raid for horses. We made preparations and some days later headed
north with two other friends. Since we were on foot and had to keep
hunting for food it took us about seventeen days to reach the Great
Falls of Big River.

The sun was almost down when we arrived at the foot of what we
call Rattle Mountain. Since we were close to enemy country we
climbed a hill to look out. The Deer River ran in front of us, and
some distance north, at the foot of the Belt Mountains, was a large
Blackfeet camp. 3

After dark we forded the river, found a trail leading up the cliff
bank, and carefully approached their camp. There was a bright moon
and we found their horses. I told Piegan and another man to try to
capture some but warned them first to be sure no guards were near.

They disappeared into the shadows and we waited. Soon we heard
barking dogs and shouts. People were lighting torches and running
for their horses. As Piegan and the other man ran into sight they
yelled for us to get away. Running for the river we could not find
the trail down and jumped off the cliff. We dropped our robes and
extra moccasins and waded until we could swim. When we were
nearly across they appeared on the cliff and began shooting. Little
spurts of water popped up but we reached the other side and ran for
the cottonwoods. By the time they had crossed we were hidden.

We doubled back and waded for a long time in the shallows. We

7*

were lucky that clouds had covered the moon. The first part of the
night we could hear men looking for us but by dawn they had gone.
All the next day we hid on an island. They must have thought we
had headed home and were searching in that direction. At nightfall we
left, careful to make it a long journey away from usual trails. When
we walked into our camp on the Musselshell many days later, there
were no victory songs.

72

Chapter Fourteen

Sees The Living Bull was also called Goes Around All The Time

and Bull That Goes Hunting. As a boy helping his mother butcher a

buffalo he had pointed to the animal? $ penis, 'which she had just

tossed into the river. An alert older man, either out of the

characteristically Crow ribald sense of humor or because he saw

some spiritual significance in the act, had named the boy Looks At

A Bull's Penis, which Wildschut taste-fully rendered as Sees

The Living Bull.

Born sometime between 1852 and 2820, he

led eleven successful war parties, was five times wounded, and

once rescued six injured tribesmen. His clan affiliation,

Whistling Waters, was the same as Two Leggings* -father,

placing him already in a close relationship with the boy.

However, he was only Medicine Crow's stepfather, having married
his own dead brother's widow when she was pregnant with Medicine
Crow, a common practice. Like Two Leggings, Sees The Living Bull

had seen this wife in an early vision.

In the -fall of 1875, when General Gibbon was recruiting Crow

scouts, Sees The Living Bull brought in the largest Crow

contingent, but def 'erred to Chief Sits In The Middle Of The

Land for leadership.

Sees The Living Bull's treasury of Crow

legends was preserved in 1902, when he was his tribe's second

oldest member. Transcribed by S. C. Simms of Chicago' 's Field

Museum, they constitute the first publication of Crow mythology.

IN THOSE DAYS I had many unsuccessful raids because I thought I
could do everything just like the older and wiser men. I even failed
in my first attempt to marry.

73

After my return from that trip to Deer River it was chokecherry-
picking time and we moved to the Bighorn Mountains, camping
briefly at the mouth of Black Canyon. Then we crossed the moun-
tains into what is now Wyoming. The buffalo fur was long and thick
and every day we went hunting for new robes, trailing after the herds
and finally camping near the present town of Cody.

One fine day in leaf -falling moon while we were still at this place,
the young men took out their drums and invited all the girls to a
dance. I wanted to ride before the girls in fine clothes and tell the
brave things I had done, so I cut a pair of leggings from a red blanket
and added long fringes. Then I made a coup stick, tied many eagle
feathers to it, and fixed my long human hair attachment to my
head. 1

I rode my large gray horse to the dance ground, intending to
choose a woman and have my own tipi. As I rode along the row of
girls dancing to the men singing behind them I tried to pick one.
When Chief White On The Side Of His Head came out of his tipi
he sang a praise song and told everyone to look at me because I had
proved myself brave even though I was young. Some day, he said,
if the Great Above Person let me live, and when he and the other old
men were in the Other Side Camp, I would be their chief.

I rode by one girl and laid my coup stick on her left shoulder. If
she kept it there it meant she was willing to be my woman. But she
knocked it off, although the other girls told her not to. Everyone saw
her refuse me and I was unhappy as I rode back to my brother's tipi.

For a while I stayed at home. Camp moved to the banks of the
Musselshell River and then it was decided to visit the Black Lodges,
camped along Big River. On the way I joined the hunting for robes
and meat in order to forget about war parties. Sometimes I visited
girls and thought of marrying, but I did not ask anyone seriously.

I was staying with friends because my brother had already gone
ahead to the Black Lodges. But camp moved too slowly and three
friends and I left also. I led a big bay horse captured from the Sioux
as a gift for my brother.

On our way we had to swim the Big River. To keep our cloth-
ing, guns, and ammunition dry we built a small boat of four strong
willow branches and rawhide, keeping the center of the hide stiff
with the willows and fastening the four corners together in the shape
of a bottle neck. We placed two stones in a fold at the bottom to
hold it upright. Then we attached two buckskin thongs, held their

74

ends tightly in our teeth, and pulled it across with a pole under one
arm for support. 2

At the Black Lodge camp I rode straight to my brother's tipi. I was
sad that evening and we talked late into the night. He wanted to
know what had happened and I described that last unlucky war party.
Also I told him about my dream but said that I had not been able to
capture as many horses as I had seen. However, I added that my vi-
sion had been unclear about the proper time for these raids.

When he asked if I had talked with any medicine men I said they
wanted me to wait until the next spring and even the spring after the
next winter. I said that he knew I could not hope to be a pipeholder
if I spent all my days in camp.

He advised me to follow their advice because they had lived longer
and understood dreams and visions. He told me not to be so ambitious
and to wait for the proper time. Our talk did not satisfy me.

Medicine Crow and 1 had become close friends and spent many
evenings in his father's tipi. One night while camped along the Mus-
selshell he and I returned late from a buffalo hunt and I was invited
to his tipi. After our meal we smoked, and Sees The Living Bull listened
to our description of the day's kill. Talking about a wounded bull
which had almost gored me, I mentioned that my medicine had been
with me when Medicine Crow shot it. Then Sees The Living Bull told
his son that he remembered we had fasted together on Where The
Thunderbird Sits Down Mountain, but that he had never heard about
his son's vision.

When Medicine Crow said he had not received anything but that
I had dreamt a great vision, Sees The Living Bull was interested.

He was a kind and well-known man and I trusted him. I told him
all I had seen and also what had appeared during my earlier fasts.

When I finished he said he believed me but that I had not seen any-
thing great. He said that our guard in the sky, called The White Man
Of The Sky or Great Above Person, did everything for us. If I had re-
ceived my dreams from him my medicine would be powerful and
I would always have good luck. But he said mine had come from one
of his many helpers without his knowledge and was not powerful.
He advised me to stay at home because I would have bad luck if I
left again.

Medicine Crow mentioned that the ground in front of the horses
had been covered with snow and that I thought this meant I should
go out this season.

75

The tipi door was raised and White Around The Edges entered,
a medicine man even older than Sees The Living Bull. They both
began questioning us and asking for more details of my dream. Finally
White Around The Edges said that those horses were on the other
side of the snow which meant that I must wait until after this winter
when the snow had melted. When he asked which side of the moun-
tains the horses had been on I remembered lying with my back to the
east and them to my left. Then he asked whether there had been any-
thing on top of the snow. When I said no, he advised me to stay in
camp this winter, to hunt if I had to go out, and not only to wait
after this winter but until the following one. Before then, he said, I
was sure to have bad luck. As I thought of the boredom ahead I be-
came very unhappy and left the tipi.

Shortly after our talk I bought a new gun which worked with a
lever. Twins had carried it on a raid but was unable to make it shoot
and had traded it to me for very little. Eight cartridges could be
loaded at one time and then it shot eight times in a row. Taking it
to the trader at the head of Plum Creek, 3 I traded a buffalo robe for
twenty shells and made a buckskin bag to hold them.

Now I could shoot so fast there was no reason to be afraid. I
wanted to try the gun out on enemies and kept thinking those horses
ought to be mine no matter what the two medicine men had said.

Leaf-falling moon had passed and ice lined the river banks. I had
to go out, and asked Young Mountain to join me on a trip to the
Piegan country. First I visited the trader for more shells and when
he showed ine a cartridge belt I traded a buffalo robe for it.

My gun and belt were admired in camp. The guns cost fifty buifalo
robes each but that did not stop many from buying them. I had not
yet made a real medicine but carried a hawk like the one in my dream.
Two boys joined us, and one cold dawn we headed north and west
for the Piegan country. After sleeping four times we reached the
Crooked River where it makes a big bend. We had to cross twice
and the water was very cold. But we built a fire to warm ourselves
and felt better as we rode on.

I sent one man to scout ahead, but we saw no enemies or even their
tracks and arrived at Loud Sounding River, close to the present Pie-
gan agency. After crossing it we were about to ride on when we saw
a howling wolf. Young Mountain said that maybe it was telling us
76

of enemies close by. Although we could not understand the wolf we
led our horses into some brush in a coulee.

We saw nothing strange but the wolf walked closer, still howling.
As it called to us we grew frightened and whipped our horses to-
ward the head of the coulee. Finally we dismounted near a hill and
crawled to the edge. Still we saw no enemies and the game seemed
undisturbed. But we stayed on the hilltop until sundown when I de-
cided to move to a higher hill. I was not afraid but felt responsible
for the men we had brought.

In the lead with my gun and telescope, I was near the top when
a boy yelled out that people were coming. I saw Piegans running
around the hill and knew why that wolf had called. Shouting for the
boys to run I dismounted and started shooting. Bullets hit all around
but I dodged them. When a Piegan shot an arrow at me I shot him
off his horse.

Young Mountain had left with the boys but when he saw me sur-
rounded he came back. Lying flat on the ground I shot a Piegan's
horse in the hindquarters. When it fell the rider ran off. Young
Mountain had returned with my speckled white horse. As the Piegans
emptied their guns and retreated we chased them. I shot one off his
horse and then shot him again on the ground. When they had re-
loaded they came back singing medicine songs. Feeling a sting in my
arm I saw blood on my shirt. We fell back but as soon as they had
emptied their guns we chased them again.

Then a man rode to a hilltop and signalled with his blanket. I called
to Young Mountain that their camp must be close and that my arm
was no good. He yelled back that he was shot in the hip. It did not
matter if we died but we had to help those two boys. As I turned
my horse was shot. It stumbled and after I dismounted, it fell over.

When the Piegans rushed me I jumped on a Piegan horse I had
picked up earlier in the fight and had tied to my other horse. My left
arm was useless and my shells were almost gone.

Occasionally we stopped to shoot, making sign language for them
to go back before we killed them. They were afraid of our repeating
rifles and hung back. When we picked up the two boys who were
waiting for us I told them to run for their horses while we protected
them. I told them not to stop even if we were caught by the Piegans.

Another Piegan was signalling with a blanket for help. Young
Mountain and I led our horses up a steep hill and then rode down a

77

creek running through a coulee with thick brash on either side. By
the time the Piegans had gathered on the hilltop we were on our way
home.

Again we caught up with the two boys and began a ride which
continued through the night and into the next day. When we arrived
at Crooked River that sunset, Young Mountain wanted to rest be-
cause he was worried the water would get into our wounds. But I
said they would not cross at night and we would be safe on the other
side.

Making a skin float we put our clothes and ammunition inside and
pulled it across with thongs held in our teeth. The two boys swam
ahead with our horses. When we touched bottom and crawled up the
bank we were exhausted and freezing. After warming ourselves over
a fire, I had the boys find an old buffalo skull, knock off its horn, and
bring us some water. We drank but went to sleep with nothing to
eat. Before dawn we were riding again, crossing Muddy Creek and
riding down Plum Creek to our village.

When I walked into my brother's dpi he said if I kept this up I
would surely be killed. Although I was now a man, he said, I was still
alone and should marry and have my own tipi. He did not know my
first vision had shown me my wife. Whenever I saw a woman who
looked like her I asked her name, but it was never the same and I
remained unmarried.

Although I still would not listen I also felt I should stay home. If
I had more bad luck no one would ever join me.

During that winter I joined eight men from the Black Lodges on
a visit to the Many Lodges on the Musselshell River near the present
town of Slayton. We hunted with that camp and then visited another
camp on Fly Creek near Elk River. Although war parties were occa-
sionally organized I remained in camp.

One day hunting along the Musselshell we saw some Crows rid-
ing toward us. They were the people from Fly Creek coming to visit
the Many Lodges.

Sees The Living Bull was among them. When he called me over
I could see he was displeased. He said he had wanted me to wait at
least until the snow was off the ground. If I continued this way my
vision man would grow angry and take away his protection. I listened
to his warnings but hearing the returning warriors announce their
coups made me very restless.

Then a raiding party returned with stolen horses, but one of its

78

members, Beaver, had been killed near Warm Water by enemies who
had pursued them. When Sees The Living Bull saw me next he said
he knew how it felt to listen to the stories and see the captured
horses, but reminded me that I did not want to be killed like Beaver.
He said this for my own good. I was his son's partner and he liked
me. Still I hated this quiet life. After hunting buffalo until I grew
bored, I would often sit alone on some high ridge and think about
the honors a man could win.

79

Chapter Fifteen

It was natural that Two Leggings would relate the one Sun Dance

in which he participated; it is not surprising that -from a spectator's

vantage point he would here recall White On The Neck's fiasco.

The event burned itself into most Crow memories, for it actually

left eleven men and one woman scalped in its wake.

In another version White On The Neck only tore off his Sun

Dance paraphernalia and rushed -for water before receiving his

vision. Since he was the pledger this was sacrilege and caused the

disastrous subsequent events. Plenty Coups, who gave Wilds chut a

third version of the aftermath, said the bundle was thereafter

discarded. But in 1915 the doll was collected by Robert Lowie

for the American Museum of Natural History.

Although the Department of the Interior did

not officially ban the Sun Dance until 1904, its vengeance

motivation among the Crow caused its extinction as soon as the

intertribal raiding was curtailed; the last dance was held

about 1875 in the vicinity of their Rosebud Creek agency.

However, in 1942, a variety which omitted

the self-torture was brought to the Crow reservation from the

Wind River Shoshonis and is still performed each

summer.

NOT LONG after my return from the Plegan country we moved to
Big River. One day a miserable-looking man rode toward our camp
and we recognized White On The Neck. Two moons earlier the
Sioux had raided his village and killed his younger brother. Since
80

then he had been mourning and sleeping In the hills. He told us that
just before he had wandered into our village a vision had instructed
him to give a Sun Dance. After our chief brought the people together
White On The Neck stood before us, faced the sun, and said that the
Sioux had killed his brother and now he wanted to sacrifice to the
sun which was his grandfather through the ceremony of the Sun
Dance.

Then scouts reported buffalo moving toward Elk River. We broke
camp and moved as far as the mouth of the Bighorn. But hunting was
poor and when we heard of herds roaming in the valley we traveled
up river, striking camp near the present town of Hardin.

Grass-growing season had nearly come. When our chief had the
camp crier tell the hunters to bring in the tongues of all buffalo killed,
we knew that preparations for the Sun Dance had begun. As the
tongues came in, White On The Neck gave ten to each of his helpers.
The Sun Dance lodge was to be erected farther up river where Medi-
cine Bear now lives because the cottonwood trees there made good
Sun Dance poles. Our entire village moved to this place.

It was difficult to find the virtuous woman to serve as tree notcher
because many eligible women would not accept the honor. A cooked
buffalo tongue with a stick run through it was carried from tipi to
tipi until Getting A Sword accepted. The whole camp was present
as she walked out of her tipi, carrying the tongue to the center of
the village and facing the sun. Raising her right hand over her head
she said that the sun up there knew that her husband Onion had bought
her in the honorable way and that no man had ever dishonored her.
After her prayer she walked back to her tipi and was allowed to eat
the buffalo tongue.

That evening the camp crier announced the name of the virtuous
woman who had accepted the tongue and said that the other prepara-
tions would continue the following morning.

A fresh buffalo hide was next needed. This was always difficult
because the appointed hunter had to kill the animal with a single
arrow which could not make a second hole in the skin. If that hap-
pened the carcass would be abandoned and he would chase another.

Bull Shield was hunter, Bull Water and someone else the butchers,
and Shows His Face was the fourth man.

That evening they entered a special tipi and Shows His Face
scratched a buffalo track on the earth floor and faced the direction
where they expected to find buffalo. All held buffalo-hide rattles in

their right hands as they sang this buffalo song: "Buffalo is coming."

Then they sat behind the buffalo track, faced where it led, and
sang the buffalo-calling songs until dawn, with some intervals when
they went outside to smoke. No one else was allowed in. Long be-
fore dawn some of our oldest scouts left camp, each painted with
white clay and wearing a wolfskin cap. It was not yet sunrise when
we heard their wolf howls telling us they had sighted buffalo. The
whole camp cheered this good news.

Bull Shield carried only two arrows as he and his butchers rode
out, leading their best buffalo horses. They had not gone far when
they saw three buffalo walking towards them. Switching to their
buffalo horses, Bull Shield rode up with his butchers close behind.
His medicine was powerful that day; his arrow went into the back
as far as the feather. Blood ran from the buffalo's nose and mouth
and it began staggering. Now each butcher had to tie one eagle
feather to the buffalo's head-hair before it fell. This was the most
difficult part, but it was done.

Instead of skinning from the belly up they worked from the back
down, carefully taking out all the bones and packing them on the
horses together with the heart, the liver, the kidneys, part of the in-
testines, and a little meat.

Our scouts had been on the lookout and raced back as soon as they
saw the hunter and butchers returning. Bull Shield and the other two
men were not supposed to ride slowly; they galloped hard through
the village to the tipi where White On The Neck was waiting. The
entire camp was there and received them with shouting and songs.
Their horses were held by the underlip but they could not dismount
until the meat, bones, and hide had been unpacked.

White On The Neck had covered his hands with white clay. His
cheeks were painted black for revenge and he held a knife painted
with a mixture of charcoal and buffalo grease. He cut the meat into
very small pieces, giving one to everyone. After singing four songs
he cut the buffalo hide in half and the ceremony was over for that
day.

The next morning Getting A Sword * was placed on a horse and
given the stone maul and the longest prong from an elk antler. We
were all dressed in our finest clothes and followed on foot as her
horse walked to a selected tree with four black rings painted around
it. We all sang four songs and after each one she pretended to hit the
prong with her stone maul. When she really hit it the last time we
82

yelled and fired off our guns. This tree and ten others were cut down
by some of the tribe's hermaphrodites. 2 Then all the young men
tied ropes to the heavy poles, mounted their horses, and dragged
them to the lodge site, each riding double with a girl. Before they
started some of the bravest men were put on the poles. Presents were
given to their relatives because it was considered something of a dis-
grace to ride these poles. As soon as they could the men jumped off. 3

A large woodpile had been gathered at the lodge's center. Three
of the heavy poles were laid over it and tied near their tops with
thongs cut from the hide Bull Shield had skinned. One was placed
toward the north, another south, and a third west. The east was al-
ways left open, like the wide opening in the camp circle, and no one
could pass through there.

A medicine man had to climb the center pole but only one who had
dreamt of eagles could do this. They were hard to find. A pipe was
carried around camp and offered to the eligible men, but none ac-
cepted. At last Hair Wolf made it known that if the pipe were brought
to him he would take it. We did not know he had dreamt of eagles
but he was given the pipe and led to a special tipi some distance from
the western pole and in direct line with it. He was given four presents
and while inside he painted his entire body red. We could hear him
singing his medicine songs. When he came out he was wrapped in
a big buffalo robe fastened with an eagle-feather quill. He was also
carrying an eagle-feather fan in each hand, and an eagle-bone whis-
tle hung from his neck. As he drew near the western pole he sang
and moved the fans like the wings on a flying eagle: "I am a bird,
coming from the clouds."

After the first song he shopped and blew his whistle, imitating the
flying eagle again. Four times he did this until he stood before the
pole, whistling and waving the fans. We watched intently as he be-
gan walking up the pole. If he fell, bad luck would come into our
camp. I do not know how he kept his balance but he arrived safely
where they were all tied together and sat down. Now when he whis-
tled and moved his arms, we all shouted at the top of our voices.

Holes had been dug for the butt ends of the three poles and we all
rushed up to raise them in place with the help of several long tipi
poles tied two and two with rawhide. Hair Wolf sat where they all
crossed, like a bird in a nest. We laid the resting poles in place and
interlaced them with willow branches.

All the pipeholders had painted themselves according to their vi-

sions and were in full dress, wearing their medicines and each carry-
ing a rope and whistle. All together they ran toward the Sun Dance
lodge, stopping four times until they arrived at the eastern entrance.

Some of the spectators were singing and others dancing. We
watched the pipeholders run around the lodge and then stare at the
top. Someone called for silence. A pipeholder yelled that he saw a
scalp hanging up there. Another yelled that he saw a horse. Other
things were seen by the pipeholders. This way they gave their dreams
to the men who were to dance in the days ahead. They knew that
those dreams would be seen again by one of the dancers and would
aid the revenge.

The Sun Dance started the next day. All the dancers assembled near
the lodge and the women brought buckskin thongs painted with
white clay. A small pine tree the height of a man had been set inside
the lodge. A Sun Dance doll fastened to a willow hoop was tied to
the tree's top facing east. Seven eagle feathers in a fan shape hung
from the hoop.

Then the dancers entered the lodge, each carrying a whistle, a
skunkskin around his neck, and an eagle plume fastened to the back
of his head. The medicine men tied white thongs to the skewers
piercing the dancers' breasts and attached the other ends to posts
planted inside the lodge. White On The Neck stood in front of the
lodge, but did not enter until after the first song. Then he stood be-
tween the two piles of white clay, a Sun Dance hair lock tied to the
back of his head. He wore a buckskin dress around his waist, car-
ried an eagle-bone whistle, and had one eagle plume attached to each
of his little fingers. He also wore a skunkskin around his neck, painted
with white clay.

When the drummers one a woman took their places inside and
began the second song, White On The Neck looked at the doll for
the first time: "The one you want to dance with is here now."

White On The Neck sang with them and began dancing up to the
doll and then back away, blowing his whistle and staring at the doll.
When the song was over we all yelled and clapped our hands to our
mouths, and then it was sung again. The singing and dancing lasted
late into the night until the leader halted it and helped White On
The Neck lie down between his two white clay piles. He covered
him with a blanket and we all went home for a short rest.

The crier woke everyone early and after eating we returned to the
Sun Dance lodge. It was very hot and I heard that White On The
84

Neck was not dancing well and that his whistling was weak. Later
I noticed that he had to be forced to dance. Perspiration was pouring
down his body and many times he almost fell. Suddenly he ran toward
the tree, tore off the doll with both hands, and fainted.

Everyone was alarmed. Water was brought to wake him and the
leader told him that we were holding this Sun Dance because his
brother had been killed. Everyone had been willing to help him, but
he said that White On The Neck had done a great wrong and now
some of us would be killed.

That same day we broke camp and moved to what is now called
Two Leggings Creek, camping near the spring a few miles from its
mouth. Moving every day for the next three days, we went to Woody
Creek, then to Dipper Creek, and on the third day crossed the Big-
horn River and camped on Rotten Grass Creek. During the night
Sioux stole some of our horses and I joined a party following their
trail over the high hills east of Rotten Grass. Some of our men caught
up with part of the Sioux at Big Shoulder Creek, killing one there
and another on the ridge top.

Before they reached the Little Bighorn River we killed another
Sioux, and a fourth was killed as he swam across. On the other side
they separated, some riding east and the rest following the river
downstream. We went downstream but did not catch up until they
reached the location of the present Crow agency. Then we could
see their warbonnets and medicines. One Sioux fired his six-shooter
and the bullet passed over my head. I heard yells that more were
coming and saw a large band across the river. Turning our horses
we raced for the foothills where our main party was signalling.

As we joined them we saw two other Sioux driving some of our
horses stolen the night before. When they tried to escape we no-
ticed that one was a woman. One Fingered Bear was just ahead of
me and we both chased them. The woman's horse was tired out and
she cried to the man, but he did not seem to hear. Then One Fingered
Bear shot her. The main group of Sioux rode to help the man with
the horses. Most of our horses were exhausted and several men were
on foot, but mine was long-winded. Waving my gun at the remain-
ing Sioux, I made signs telling them to come closer. Then the stolen
herd ran by me and I saw a beautiful gray with split ears and a Sioux
shield hanging from the saddle. Driving my horse into the bunch, I
changed mounts and led my own.

A little later we all came together and found the stolen horses on

85

a hill where the Sioux had abandoned them. Those of us still mounted
rounded them up.

Riding back we kept in a tight group because the Sioux seemed
everywhere. We traveled slowly to the Bighorn River, making camp
for the night across from the mouth of Two Leggings Creek. Through
the next day we rested our horses often because they were still tired
from the day before. Late that night, as we approached our village,
we heard people crying and singing the death song.

We were told that the morning before some Sioux had stayed be-
hind; once we had left they had shot eleven men leaving camp to join
us. White On The Neck's breaking of the rules had caused this.

But he was not driven from the tribe. After a year of not partici-
pating in any ceremonies or dances or joining any raiding parties he
began to live a normal life. Several years later he led a raid against
the Sioux, returning with a large number of horses and several scalps.
After that no one mentioned the other thing again.

86

Chaffer Sixteen

When the Crow chiefs, or

"good men" thought a marts dream outstanding they might

<perm.it him to lead the camp through -four trial moves. If

he found enough food and pastur eland, if 'war -parties returned

with horses and no casualties, and if the camp were not raided,

he joined the council of chiefs. Then the regular

head chief resumed control.

The duties of The One Who Owns

The Camp, or village head chief, were to help the chiefs decide

when and where his followers should move and pitch their tipis, and

each spring to appoint the warrior society to police

the camp.

In the more common procedure by which

a man became a chief \ a warrior who had struck the four

important coups gave presents to an acknowledged chief on four

different occasions, without divulging his motive. Then, after

making his request to buy the chiefs medicine bundle or its

duplicate, he was either accepted or

rejected.

Sometimes when the camp was preparing to move

and the chiefs had met to discuss their dreams, an agreement

could not be reached over whose to follow. The camp would

split, and those believing in one chief would leave with

him.

WE NEVER STATOD where something bad had happened. As soon as
the eleven men were buried our chiefs led us across the Bighorn

87

River at the mouth of Black Canyon, along the foot of the moun-
tains to Arrow Creek, and then through Hits With The Arrows.
Finally we camped at the foot of the Buffalo Heart Mountain, close
to the present town of Cody, a well-known fasting place where many
important medicine men had received visions.

When Bull Well Known asked me to fast with him I decided to try
acrain. After our preparations we climbed to the top, meeting several
others also fasting. This time I did not torture my flesh and just
prayed to the Great Above Person. For three days and nights I re-
ceived no vision, but near daybreak after the fourth night seven people
walked toward me from the east. First they were on top of a peak in
the Wolf Mountains. Then I seemed to fall asleep and when I woke
again they were standing on top of Where The Thunderbird Sits
Down Mountain where I had fasted before. As they approached they
began to sing, and a voice said that I was seeing birds. Then I under-
stood their song: "The birds are coming to me."

After another victory song they turned north toward the Piegan
country. They sang again, and turned toward the Sioux country.
When they faced those directions it meant I should go to those tribes.
Their songs assured me I would be successful. After this second song
I woke. Although my dream had been short I had been given two war
trails.

Soon after returning to camp I talked again with Crooked Arm.
He said my earlier dream was more powerful and wanted me to wait
until the next snow had fallen and melted before going out. Other-
wise, he said, I would have bad luck.

Sees The Living Bull agreed with him. But I still could not refuse
Bull Does Not Fall Down when he asked me to join him to the Sioux
country. Seventeen of us followed the foot of the Bighorn Moun-
tains and by the time we arrived at Tongue River our scouts had
located the Sioux camp.

For the rest of that day we hid, and after dark began riding toward
their village. While seven of us guarded our horses the rest crawled
into the camp and returned with horses that had been picketed in
front of the tipis. Although they picked up their own horses and left
for home, we did not want to return empty-handed and stayed un-
til the following night. When it was too dark to see, we moved
quietly into the tipis. Bumping into a horse, I cut it loose and walked
it to our meeting place. The others were already back and we rode
into the mountains* As daylight came I saw I had stolen a big bay.
88

When we got back to camp we found we had thirty head in all. But
my bay was in poor condition and never became a good runner.

We also discovered that Wrinkled Face was missing and his rela-
tives soon began to mourn.

Camp moved to the mouth of Red Lodge Creek and ten days after
that horse-stealing raid Wrinkled Face appeared on a nearby hill.
After becoming separated from the first returning group he had run
out of ammunition and had not eaten for several days. His moccasins
were worn out and he had cut up his leggings to wrap his feet. Until
this time Wrinkled Face had been poor. But now he became success-
ful, bringing back several horses on every war party. He had also
been unfriendly. But after this he grew kind and was liked by every-
one. Later he told us that during his wandering he had dreamt some-
thing powerful.

I planned to stay in camp for the rest of that summer and not take
any more chances. Our village moved from place to place until it
was decided to visit the Black Lodges at the foot of Three Mountain
in the Little Rockies along Big River.

We had a happy time there. Game was plentiful and enemies
seemed to be staying away. War parties would occasionally return
and this gave us more reason for dancing and feasting. Our two camps
together held several hundred tipis and we had to hunt continually
for food. We were here for nearly a moon when scouts reported a
large herd nearby to the north. I needed fresh meat and the follow-
ing afternoon rode my buffalo horse slowly out of camp, leading a
pack horse. Usually I rode the pack horse to rest my buffalo runner,
but I did not think I would be going far.

No enemies had recently been sighted, but I was accustomed to
being careful. Before each ridge I dismounted and crawled to the
edge to cover the country with my telescope.

Riding into the valley where the herd had been reported, I found
nothing, I decided that if I did not see any game from a high hill a
little to the north I would return to camp. It was hot and all the
dancing and eating of the last days had made me sleepy. Tying my
horse to a tree, I lay in the shade and watched the sun set. For a time
I forgot what I was doing.

Before me the country was very broken; beyond lay a large
meadow and then came more broken country. As I looked over those
ridges and coulees I saw something which made my laziness go away.

89

A buffalo herd was running out of the broadest coulee. Looking
through my telescope, I knew no wolf pack could chase that many.
Soon about six men appeared behind, and from their riding style and
headgear I could tell they were Flatheads who had crossed the moun-
tains.

I rode into camp as night fell. I should have informed the chief
right away, but we had nothing to fear from a few Flatheads who
would have left immediately if they discovered our tipis. I wanted
to be the first to surprise them, and told only Young Mountain.

When we set out at sunrise I was on a roan, a good long-distance
runner, and Young Mountain was riding a buckskin, also long-winded
and fast. Young Beaver stopped us at the edge of camp, calling me
brother and saying that I had a better horse. He asked me to kill him
a nice cow and promised me the fat.

Young Beaver tried hard to provide for his father and mother but
his buffalo horse had just been stolen by enemies. I liked him and his
people, and they were my relatives. I told Young Mountain we would
hunt before looking for the Flatheads.

We three started north, where Young Beaver had been told to find
buffalo. I was sure these were the animals the Flatheads had been
chasing. On the way we passed a few Crow hunters already butcher-
ing their kills. When we reached a ridge I dismounted to look over
the edge. Two Flatheads were chasing buffalo. I ran back to the
horses and told Young Beaver to warn our hunters and also to alert
the camp. I said I was going to try to kill one and might be out all
night.

Young Mountain and I tied our horses and hid behind sage and
rocks along the ridge. While I looked through my telescope he
watched the two men below. I could not find the other Flatheads
but was sure their camp was nearby. Young Mountain pulled my arm;
the two Flatheads were chasing a few stray buffalo in our direction.

I looked back but Young Beaver with help was not to be seen. Then
I noticed someone skinning buffalo south of us. We galloped over,
recognizing Hunts The Enemy and his long-legged sorrel horse
stolen from Flatheads. I said that if we killed those two the women
could dance the scalp dance for us and we could tell our children
about this coup. But I said that if we were killed it would be a good
death, for the Great Above Person was looking down to watch our
bravery.

Meanwhile Medicine Bear had ridden up on a pinto mare and told
90

me that two more men were just over the ridge. When we called to
them Small Heart appeared on a buckskin and White From The
Waist Up on a big bay. Returning to the hill we now saw four Flat-
heads on the other side. I was glad to have collected more men. Then
several more Flatheads appeared around a pine grove on a faraway
hilltop. We also noticed that the four below were not the men Young
Mountain and I had first seen. Those two had wounded a bull, now
charging them as they rode in circles. They could have easily seen
us but were too busy. We drew back and Hunts The Enemy and I
dismounted, handing our horses to our friends. Crawling to the edge
again, we saw the two hunters about a rifle-shot away. Hunts The
Enemy said that everything dies sometime and that we should think
about what we could tell our children and grandchildren if we scalped
these men.

We all rode around the hill and into a deep ravine between the
hunters and their pack horses. As Hunts The Enemy and I watched
from the rim the others waited below. Finally killing the bull, the
Flatheads came for their pack horses, one on a white horse and the
other on a bay, both men about my age but larger than most Flat-
heads. They wore breechcloths and held guns. Bows and arrows
hung on their backs, but they carried no medicines.

As soon as we crawled back all of us galloped out of the ravine.
The Flatheads reined in so hard one horse almost fell backward. Its
rider slid off and called for the other man, who was racing down the
meadow to his friends.

When the man on the ground fired I tried to pull up, but my horse
kept running. I felt a pain in my left shoulder and thought I was
dying. As soon as possible I dismounted and he ran up, in signs calling
us women.

He was brave but I did not notice that. Blood soaked through the
light-colored shirt I had bought from the trader at the mouth of Plum
Creek. At first I thought it came from my mouth. When I moved, my
left arm hurt badly. I made signs to the Flathead that he was a woman
and that I would kill him before I died.

When he saw me back on my horse he caught his again and I grew
afraid. I do not know why I felt that way, but I rode back to the
ravine. Just as I discovered my friends were gone after the other Flat-
head, a bullet missed my head. I turned and we began riding around
in circles, hanging to the outside and shooting over or just below
our horses' necks. Then I heard yelling and was glad to see Bear

91

Looks and Hunts The Enemy. But it also made me want to earn this
coup alone. I reined in and shot from behind my horse. The Flathead
also dismounted, keeping up his fire as he walked with his horse in
front of him. When I killed it he laid down, shooting from behind
the carcass. As I started to ride around him I did not notice that Bear
Looks was beside me until he fell from his horse, shot through the
spine. Then I raced straight at the Flathead, but I was out of breath
and my horse threw its head into my gun as I fired. Before the animal
dropped I jumped off. The Flathead tried to grab my gun but I shot
his left hand. He tried again and I shot him in the right side. Drop-
ping his gun he rushed at me with a knife. I jumped away and he fell
on the ground.

I shot my last bullet, but was so excited I hit his left hand again. I
picked up his knife and gun, grabbed his long hair, and was about to
scalp him when Hunts The Enemy asked me to help lift Bear Looks
onto his horse. Then he stopped wailing over the body and pointed
north. More Flatheads were heading toward us. I let the head fall back
but told myself I would return. By the time we had Bear Looks' body
tied to the horse we had to leave.

My horse was dead and Hunts The Enemy's had run to camp. As
we reached a rise we saw Flatheads grouped around the man on the
ground. I felt faint from loss of blood, but would kill some of them
before I died. I told Hunts The Enemy to give me his gun and car-
tridges and go on with the body.

The Flatheads were pointing at me and I could find no hiding place
so I tried to walk up the hill. Before reaching the top I saw someone
on a horse. I held my gun but it was White From The Waist Up. As
we rode double over the top I turned to see the Flatheads catching
up.

I told White From The Waist Up that if they got too close we
should dismount and fight. Then he pointed out Young Beaver rid-
ing with men from camp. We all started shooting as the Flatheads
rode over the hill. When they spun around to escape, our men raced
close behind and White From The Waist Up left me. Feeling weak
and in pain, I started walking back to camp.

Men riding home stopped to tell me that the news had passed I was
dead. They were glad to see me alive and wanted to see my wound.
I rode double into camp. As I passed Bear Looks' tipi I heard his rela-
tives crying. They buried his body in the brakes along Big River.

The chiefs decided to move camp early the next morning. All
92

night we heard men riding in and singing victory songs. I felt glad
because it meant they had been successful without losing any more
men. Hunts The Enemy visited me and said they had revenged Bear
Looks, returning with three scalps. When I fell asleep I dreamt of a
scalp dance in which I was the chief.

(Many years later when we were friends I visited the Flatheads.
That man told me that when he was on the ground he felt me lift his
head by the hair, unable to move. He had waited for my knife and
could not understand what had happened. But he was never able to
use his left hand.)

When we arrived at Big River the next day we made rafts for the
old men, women, and children and for our clothes and provisions,
each pulled by four men with thongs in their teeth and poles under
their arms. I could not use my left arm and crossed with the very old
men. When the swimmers made fun of me, I yanked on their thongs
and ducked them.

We reached the southern shore and pitched our tipis on a sloping
ground covered with big cottonwood trees. By the time the sun was
in the middle everyone was settled.

Preparations began for a big dance and the old people called the
names of different men through the camp. My brother told rne to
mount up because I had been wounded and had acted bravely and the
people wanted to see me.

Painting myself and wearing my best clothes and human-hair
attachment I mounted my favorite horse and waited until Old Dog, 1
an old medicine man, came for me. He sang as he led me into the
circle of the dancers: "I am going to give you a scalp. I am going to
give you a scalp."

Then he asked everyone to stop talking. Speaking my name, he
said I was one of their bravest young men. He told them all to look at
me and said I would be a chief. From this day on, he said, I would
not scold any children and would treat aU my people well.

It was a very happy day for me. I was beginning the ceremonies
which would finally make me a chief.

At sunset the dancing stopped and a sweat lodge was built of a
hundred and four willows, the largest number ever used. I was m my
tipi when a boy told me that I was invited to this ceremony. Follow-
ing him I found Sees The Living Bull, Shell On The Neck, and Old
Dog our leading chiefs and medicine men. The previous day's war-
riors were also there and in front with me those who had counted

93

coups. Sees The Living Bull tied a red blanket to a pole and set it
up for a sacrifice. Then he prayed to the Great Above Ones, which
were the sun and moon and stars and all above people in the sky. He
said that we were offering this blanket, and asked for good luck, long
life, and successful raids for the warriors gathered here.

When we all entered a sweat bath the chiefs prayed for us again.
Afterwards we bathed in the river and then smoked and talked over
the day before, adding details and remembering the brave things that
were done. It was early morning when I returned to my tipi. All was
still and the air was warm. Before going in I looked up at the sky,
raised my arms, and prayed for all the powerful beings above to look
at me. I told them I wanted to be a chief. I asked them to give me a
long life and courage when I was in danger. I asked the moon and
stars for their help.

Two days later camp moved to Elk River and although I had begun
to listen to the older men's advice I was still too young. Parades
through our village would be accompanied by older men singing
about our brave warriors, and now I was mentioned in those songs,
I began thinking about another raid to add more coups to my name.

94

Chapter Seventeen

The Bear Song Dance was one of a handful

of minor Crow ceremonies. It and the Singing of the Cooked

Meat a semiannual occasion for rock-medicine owners

to open their sacred bundles were indigenous. Others, like the

Medicine Pipe ritual and the Horse Dance, were the products

of visits with other tribes, usually their Hidatsa kinsmen.

The Bear Song Dance performers were knit

together by their ability to produce from their mouths parts

of a creature or object which had miraculously entered

their stomachs during a fast. Revealed were elk chips, white clay,

black dirt, owl feathers, ground moss, snails, eggs, feathers from,

an eagle's tail, a little human being, and, commonly, parts

of the bodies of bears and jackrabbits. People owning horses

would exhibit horse tails; those who could doctor wounds, buffalo

tails.

Usually the dance was held in the fall, when

the ripe berries caused the bears to dance in the mountains. As

with the Tobacco society, variations in dreams could give

birth to a separate chapter. Once, a mourner discovered a nest of

eggs, subsequently dreamt of them, and then displayed

them during the next dance. Henceforth, his Wolverine chapter

was renamed the Egg chapter.

SOON AFTER OUR BATTLE with the Flat-heads we began moving from
one place to another. Finally we stopped along the banks of Big
River near the mouth of Elk River and a Bear Dance was held.

This dance was usually given by some man or 'woman who had
dreamt a vision of the Bear Dance. The performers were people with

95

special medicine powers, who could make objects come out of their
mouths and disappear back in and do other things we cannot under-
stand.

The people prepared for this dance by drying a lot of thinly sliced
meat strips and pounding them into pemmican which they mixed
with buffalo-leg-bone marrow and dried chokecherries. Then they
rolled the mixture into different-sized balls which they spread on a
buckskin and covered.

I was one of the spectators sitting in a large circle around a pole.
A bearskin with red-painted claws was tied to the eastern side of
this pole but it could also be tied to the western. Six or seven singers
walked into the circle carrying their drums, and sat on one side of
the cleared area. At a signal they hit their drums, the bear songs began,
and the dance leader came out of his tipi, his forehead painted red
with two red stripes drawn from the corners of his eyes down his
cheeks. He wore a buffalo robe with the fur side out. Four other
men and a boy followed him, all painted and dressed in the same
manner. They began dancing in the east, came around the pole to the
west, and then turned back to the east. They imitated a bear's move-
ments, holding their hands in front of them with the fingertips pressed
against the palms, shaking their heads, and stepping like bears on their
hind legs.

Now we were all standing, shouting, and clapping our hands to our
mouths. I was watching the dancers so closely I did not see a young
woman dance slowly up to the center pole. Suddenly she drew a deep
breath and blew out a cloud of red paint. Rubbing her face against
the bearskin she blew more red paint where she had rubbed, doing
this until she was exhausted. Her relatives held her as she tried to
dance. Then they made her kneel over some burning sweet grass.
When she smelled the smoke she stopped blowing the paint. Even her
hair was covered by paint the wind had blown back on her. Her
relatives wrapped a blanket around her and led her away, giving her
some of the balls of meat.

In the meantime the singers continued their songs and the dancers
moved around the pole. A man came out of his tipi wearing an otter-
skin headband and with a broad red stripe across his face. As he sang
a Bear Dance song, he danced toward the pole. People yelled that
this was Buffalo Lump, a powerful medicine man who could shoot a
gun without a shell. Coming closer, he called for us to spread out
robes.
96

We laid down several and crowded around as he walked up to the
bearskin, rubbed his face against it, and returned to the robes. As he
leaned forward a stream of bullets rolled out of his mouth, many
more than any man could hold. He told us who liked hunting to take
one, and four men did. Buffalo Lump said that was enough and picked
up the rest, swallowing one after another. He asked for water and
after drinking some poured a little on his head. Then he ate some of
the meat balls.

The singers began again and everyone shouted when Flesh came
from the camp with a robe over his head. He was known to be so
fond of horses that he spent most of his time with them. After dancing
around the pole he rubbed his face against the bearskin and turned
to us. Something seemed to be filling his open mouth. Hair appeared
and we saw a colt's tail come out until it seemed full-length. His
relatives quickly made a sweet-grass smudge, holding him over it and
raising his arms above his head. Each time they did that the tail went
back and finally it was gone. He drank some water, a little was spilled
on his head, and he ate some of the special meat.

I could never understand all this and believe the Bear society mem-
bers were great medicine people.

Then Small Sun had it announced that if all the war parties the next
winter season returned successfully he would give a Bear Dance the
following spring.

That next spring season a pole was planted where Chief Bell Rock
now lives, and a bearskin was tied to it. When we were all gathered,
Small Sun said that last snow season Rides The White Horse had
brought in many horses and Cottonwood Tree had done the same. He
said that Head Of A Man had returned successfully with his men and
that Sits In The Middle Of The Land, robbed of his horses one night
while camped along the Musselshell River, had followed the Piegans,
bringing back the stolen horses and many more besides. He had also
returned with the scalps of two men he had killed. Small Sun said that
we had enjoyed good luck and that he was giving this Bear Dance as
he had promised.

This ceremony was like the last with the four men and the boy
coming in, dancing and singing as they circled the pole. Then the
individual dancers entered and I remember Lots Of Bear throwing
back his head and blowing out a bunch of bulrushes. Some fell among
the crowd and people grabbed them for their medicine bundles.

One young man said he had nothing inside him but would do some-

97

thing else. He scraped up dirt from the ground, mixed it with water,
and roiled it into small soft balls. After closing his hands over the balls
and rubbing them he opened his palms to show beads which he gave
to the women.

Not long after Small Sun's Bear Dance, time came for berry-picking
and camp moved in slow stages toward the mountains. Scouts searched
in all directions for chokecherry bushes and plurn trees, finally find-
ing both along Woody Creek. A camping place was selected and
parties of men, women, and children set out each day. The older
women pounded the berries into pulp which they formed into peglike
shapes and placed on blankets to dry in the sun. Later these were
stored in parfleches for the winter.

The warriors hunted for game and scouted to protect the berry-
pickers. At night we kept guards around the camp, especially near
our grazing horses.

Bull Does Not Fall Down usually joined me on these hunts and
scouting duties. As game grew scarce because of the constant hunting
we decided to take a longer hunt of a few days. Riding east, we
crossed the Bighorn River, and began hunting in the broken country
toward the Little Bighorn River.

In what the white people call Devils Pocket near the Little Bighorn
we found a large deer with big antlers. We shot at the same time and
it fell into a dead pine tree. Bull Does Not Fall Down told me to drag
it out of the branches. When I grabbed a hind leg I saw it was only
stunned by having a horn shot off. I had left my rifle with my horse
so I sat on its back to stab its heart. Suddenly the deer got to its feet
and began bucking down the slope. We rushed by Bull Does Not Fall
Down but he was laughing too hard to hold his gun. At the foot of
the hill the deer gave a long leap and I was thrown on some boulders,
the wind knocked out of me. The deer turned on me but missed be-
cause one antler hit the ground before the broken one could stick
me. Then it cut my face with its hooves and ran off. Bull Does Not
Fall Down wanted to follow and finally we killed it, packing the meat
home.

Around that time there was much dancing and celebrating in camp
and we flirted a lot with the girls. Crooked Arm often advised me to
marry and I felt that my own home would be a great advantage.
I had been feeling close to one girl and sent Young Mountain with
presents to her father. This time I was not refused and a few days
later started life in my own tipi.

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Two Leggings in 1919, wearing his pipeholder's war shirt hung with ermine
skins and decorated with beaded strips over the shoulders and down the
sleeves.

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Above: Sees The Living Bull. After Two Leggings
earned his trust, the famous medicine man adopted
him and gave him dreams to guide his raids for horses
and scalps.

Right, above: In 1871 William H. Jackson photo-
graphed the last of the Crow buffalo-hide tipis, pitched
along the Yellowstone River.

Right: At the Crows' first agency near Livingston,
Montana, Jackson photographed Sits In The Middle
Of The Land (second from right), signer of the 1868
treaty and head chief of the Mountain Crows during
much of Two Leggings'* early life. With him are
(left to right) Poor Elk, Long Ears, Shows His Face,
and Old Onion.

Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, Bureau of American Ethnology Collection

Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, Bitreau of American Ethnology Collection

4 Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, Bureau of American Ethnology Collection

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Most concerned of the "Wise Ones" 'who tried to control Two Leggings'
young ambition were Two Belly (left, top) and Crooked Arm (left, bot-
tom). Photographed during an 1879 Crow delegation's Washington visit,
Two Belly's hair style reveals that he was in mourning at the time.

Below:. In 1872 the first Crow treaty delegation rode horseback from cen-
tral Montana to Salt Lake City before taking the train to Washington.
Among its members were Wolf Bear (far left, seated), who joined Two
Leggings on a raid to uphold the honor of their warrior society, Long
Horse (far left, top), Sits In The Middle Of The Land (seated, third from
left), Iron Bull (seated, fourth from left), Old Dog (seated, fifth from
left), and their Indian agent, Fellows D. Pease (standing, fifth from left).

Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, Biireau of American Ethnology Collection

As partners on his early, clan-
destine raids, Two Leggings
chose Bull Does Not Fall Down
(left) and Medicine Crow (cen-
ter) because he trusted their
courage and confidence. His
brief term as a cottrier for the
United States Government
shortly after the Custer massacre
was shared by Spotted Horse
(right).

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Two Leggings' first war medicine bundle was made by Weasel Moccasin,
then passed -to Two Leggings' brother, Wolf Chaser. It contained, left to
right, (/) blue cloth , meaning good luck, (2) herb bag to renew horse's
wind, (5) eagle's head which tied to chest imparted that bird's powers of
flight, vision, and noiseless approach, (4) eagle plume tied to horse mean-
ing swiftness, (y) porcupine-quill-wrapped feathers meaning same as eagle's
head, (6) swallow for power to evade enemies, (7) otter-skin and eagle-
claw sash -for eagle's ability to pounce on enemy, (8) bear's hair and claws
to keep horse fat and prime.

Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, Bureau of American Ethnology Collection

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

Girl on horse (above) is
about to be initiated into the
Crow Tobacco Society. The
adoption procession, women
forward and men drummers
and singers behind, will halt
its dancing four times before
arriving at a special adoption
lodge.

Frame of Tobacco Society
adoption lodge. The original
Crow Sun Dance lodge was
of similar design but required
twenty poles instead of ten.
While the Tobacco Society
lodge had a wide belt of hides
for shade, the Sun Dance
lodge was covered waist-high
with brush.

Right: Anthropologist
Robert Lowie purchased
the very doll njohic.h Two
Leggings saw White On
The Neck tear down dur-
ing his Sun Dance, the
sacrilegious act with tragic
consequences for the
Crows.

Right below: Two Leg-
gings bought the Sun
Dance bundle, together
( with this doll, which had
been used during his first
Sun Dance. Lines under
the doirs eyes imitate a
screech o r uoVs markings
and represent visionary
powers. Marks to one side
of central blue stripe
the sky mean old peo-
ple's wrinkles, granting
the owner long life. Those
to the other side represent
fog. Around the neck in-
distinguishable black dots
mean hail and rain; the
owner could call down a
sudden shower between
himself and enemy pur-
suers.

American Museum of Natural History

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Two Leggings' Sun Dance
bundle also contained (/)
buffalo-hide rattle with its
painted face representing
the sacred being who had
shown the bundle's origi-
nator a vision of the Sun
Dance doll, (2) hair-lock
attachment symbolizing
fog which could magically
descend to protect a raid-
Ing party, (3) whistle fash-
ioned from eagle's wing-
bone, (4) deerskin kilt, ($)
skunkskin necklace rubbed
with white clay and hung
with owl feathers, (6)
rawhide container which
held all these items.

Personal rivalries <were not
uncommon when young
Crows were driven to ex-
cel in their earning of
war honors. After Big
Shoulder (top) neglected
to give Two Leggings the
honor of leading a revenge
raid, the two kept a cool
distance. On another war
party , bristling under the
overbearing commands of
Hunts The Enemy (bot-
tom), Two Leggings sev-
ered himself from the
pipeholder's group but re-
joined before returning
home.

Smithsonian Office of Anthropology,
Bureau of American Ethnology Collection

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

For special occasions the Crows constructed a medicine sweat lodge of
104 willows.

Before one door of this common sweat-lodge -frame (below) waves a red
blanket offering. In front of the rear door a buffalo skull lies on a mound.
To one side of the frame stands a sacred miniature sweat lodge with in-
cense-burning coals in its center.

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Museum of the American Indian, Heyc Foundation

Above: Unwrapped on pieces of trade cloth lie glass bead offerings to the
Braided Tail medicine bundle, its central object the skull of a famous med-
icine man who lived during the first half of the nineteenth century.

After Sees The Living Bull returned from the fast, when he saw moccasins
made of a coyote head and a fox head barking -fire at him,, he made a war
medicine moccasin bundle from two coyote heads 7 each trimmed, with
scalp locks.

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Smithsonian Office of Anthropology,
Bureau of American Ethnology Collection

fe*

Hairy Wolf (top), an ac-
claimed Crow warrior,
took on the responsibility
of climbing to the top of
White On The Neck's
Sun Dance lodge to flap
his arms like an eagle's
wings and blow his whistle,
one of the ceremony's im-
portant preliminary rituals.
Another well-known Crow
war leader, Long Otter
(bottom), was the man
chosen by Big Shoulder to
lead his revenge raid in-
stead of Two Leggings.

Museum of the American Indian, Heyc Foundation

The "four inexperienced men" whom Two Leggings (far right) led on
the last Crow war party in 1888 were (left to right) Other Bull., Old
Horn } Old Coyote, and Old Jackrabbit.

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Two Leggings just before his death, his arm displaying the horseshoe-
shaped scars cut by a -friend during an early fast.

Now I wanted to provide for my safety by making a medicine for
future raids which would satisfy my companions. I asked Old Dog for
help and while he performed the ceremony and sang his medicine
songs, I tied a willow branch into a hoop. After wrapping it with
buckskin strips painted yellow, blue, and black, I tied a hawkskin to
its top, making a medicine representing everything in my dream.

I was anxious to test this medicine but already I had complete faith
in it. I told Young Mountain that I had a proper medicine and that in
my last dream many horses had come toward me from the north. We
invited eight others and made ready to leave. My wife sewed several
extra pairs of moccasins. Then I built a sweat lodge of forty-four
willows and invited Crooked Arm and Two Belly. They were sur-
prised and wanted to know how I had the right since they were sup-
posed to teach the younger men these sacred things. This was make-
believe, they said, and bad luck would come to those who joined
in it.

I said I was not pretending and that on Where The Thunderbird
Sits Down Mountain I had received a powerful vision showing me
how to build this sweat lodge. They were not convinced but attended
the ceremony and gave their blessing. Afterwards Crooked Arm said
he still thought I was too young to have that powerful a vision and
wanted me to buy the right to build the sweat lodge from some well-
known medicine man. Their dreams had been proven true, he said,
and their medicine had been tested. He liked me and hoped someday
I would be a chief, but I must do things the right way.

I promised to follow all this, but I lied. I was stubborn because
I had always had to make my own way.

Early the next morning we rode out of our village on Willow
Creek toward the Piegan country. Now I carried my medicine as well
as my pipe and felt like a real pipeholder.

After crossing the Musselshell River and riding in the direction of
Bear Creek, we came upon a Piegan camp in a valley near Where The
Bear Sits Down Mountain and waited until dark.

Leaving two men with the horses, eight of us walked toward the
camp. That night the Piegans were careless. Far from their tipis we
found an unguarded horse herd quietly grazing. We easily drove off
over a hundred head, starting back immediately because I wanted no
accidents. After picking up our own horses we galloped through the
night, all the next day, and through the next night. Then we stopped
long enough to feed and water the horses and eat something our-
selves. We never knew if they followed us, but gave them no chance.

99

Right after our little rest we rode on, finally entering our village
with eighty head running before us the rest had played out and
been abandoned. Then I divided the horses among my men. We re-
ceived many honors and songs of praise during the dancing and feast-
ing after our return. This trip was one of the most successful I ever
made.

Crooked Arm still believed I should buy a medicine from some
experienced medicine man and warned me not to let my luck make
me forget the older people's valuable experience. But I felt my dreams
were powerful and this last success made me very proud. The whole
camp sang my praises and I was in no mood to listen to anyone. Now
I am old and see the same things happen among white people. The
young think they know everything and that we are no longer useful.
But they learn, and for some it is too late.

Soon afterwards five friends and I left for the Sioux country. After
stealing six horses we were discovered and chased for two days. We
were lucky to find a hiding place and covered our tracks, so they
gave up. But when I returned home I did not hold my head so high.
This trip scared me and for some time I did not feel like going out.

After this Crooked Arm would not talk to me. Finally one day
when many of our leading men were attending a sweat-lodge cere-
mony he called me over and reminded me of that last escape, saying
that maybe I had pretended I had a medicine so my friends would
think I had received some powerful vision. He asked me to relate
all my dreams to him and said that if I followed his advice the Great
Above Person would help me. I did not like his telling me this and
answered that I had only had a vision of the sweat lodge.

I still could not listen. But if he and Two Belly had not shown such
concern I would probably have been killed long ago. In time I realized
the good example and valuable advice of these great men, and saw
how stupid and reckless I had been.

100

Chapter Eighteen

The Crow labels for rivers, mountain ranges, creeks, and other

geographical locations 'were drawn -from the same sources

as their personal names: supernatural experiences, actual

events, and physical -features.

Present-day Pry or Gap received its Crow name of Hits With

The Arrows from the legend about a boy who had been

befriended by dwarfs dwelling there. Crows passing through

these mountains were instructed to make offerings to these

dwarfs by shooting arrows into a certain crevice. Hence, the

gap was called Hits With The Arrows, Pry or Creek was named

Arrow Creek, and the Pry or Mountains were known as the

Arrowhead Mountains.

When White Man Runs Him, a Custer scout, fasted in the

Pry or Mountains they named his peak Where They See

The Rope, because the white clay-painted thongs attached

to skewers in his chest were visible to the villagers below.

The site near Lewistown was known as Where The Moccasin

Hangs because war parties left their wet footwear hanging

there after crossing the river.

The Musselshell River was so named for the shells

found in its bed, the Powder River because along its arid banks

buffalo and riders churned up great clouds of dust, like ash

or powder. Near Forsyth, a jutting landmark for returning

war parties was called The Coyote's Penis.

IT WAS LEAF-FALLING SEASON and time to cut new tipi poles so we
moved to Hits With The Arrows where there were many straight
pine trees.

101

While camped there I often noticed the three buttes along the
eastern ridge of the canyon. We called these favorite fasting places
the Medicine Dream or Dwarf Buttes from an old story our grand-
fathers told us in which they were the home of dwarfs. Only Skin
On The Forehead had fasted on the most eastern butte but I decided
to climb it, even though Crooked Arm warned me I could never
reach the top.

After my preparations to meet the Great Above Person I started
out, carrying my white-painted buffalo robe and a rawhide rope. At
sundown I reached the butte's base. The sides rose straight up, but
with my rope tied between two poles like a ladder I got to the top
and kicked the poles away. My brother had promised to help me down
in four days.

Looking over the edge I could see our tipis along Arrow Creek.
I built my resting place, lay down, and prayed for a vision.

On the third day a strong wind with heavy hail blew over the
mountains and I thought the butte shook under me. The following
night I dreamt my vision of long ago. The spirit from before returned
with the hawk sitting on the hoop on his head. Once again a voice
sang three times, and when my vision person stood up the hawk
whistled, flapped its wings, and streaks of lightning flashed from its
eyes in many directions. A voice said those streaks were showing me
where to travel. My vision man sang: "Everywhere I go, they wiU
come to me."

This song became one of my medicine songs on future raids. My
spirit man called me his son and asked if I saw a trail with horses.
Early the next grass season, when the snow was almost gone, he said
I would steal them. He pointed to the Sioux country and I saw a
whole herd running toward me.

After the hawk had shown me several directions it shut its eyes,
folded its wings, and hung its head. My dream person had appeared
young but now he seemed like an old man. This meant I would also
grow old. He carried a coyote over his arm and said that its name
was Stays Among The Buffalo. This meant that I would act as scout
on many raids to come. He sang again: "Go by here and thank you."

As he sang he pointed and I saw many horses' ears and then I was
awake. My blanket lay some distance from me and I was too weak
to stand. For a moment I thought about this wonderful vision, certain
that now my ambition to become a pipeholder and a chief would come
true. After thanking the Great Above Person I felt strong enough to
1 02

stand. I picked up my blanket and went to the cliff edge. The sun
was just rising and our women were building fires for the morning
meal.

My brother would not come for another day. Since I had received
my vision I walked to where I had kicked my ladder and found it
snagged in a tree. When I threw my blanket down it also caught on
a branch but I picked it up on my climb down. At home my wife
made me a light meal and I lay down.

I had already asked my brother to build me a sweat lodge, and after
resting awhile I asked Crooked Arm and Two Belly and some other
old men to smoke with me. When they arrived Two Belly filled the
pipe and passed it around. Then he said that for a long time he had
been watching me try to make a name for myself. When he was gone,
he said, he believed I would be a chief. He told me to smoke the pipe
and tell everything I had seen on the butte.

I said that at the melting-snow time I was to head for the Sioux
country and return with from fifty to seventy head of horses. My
vision person had told me to go on these raids until we had many
horses.

I said that for the second time I had seen a person standing at the
eastern horizon with a hawk on a hoop and that I had already made
a medicine of this dream for stealing those horses. Before I had only
seen part of the man above the horizon but this time I had seen his
chief's leggings, which meant that one day I would be a chief. Two
Belly told me that I was a good man and did not doubt I would do
all this. After our talk we entered the sweat lodge. I did not tell any
of the younger men about my vision.

Spring season finally came and camp moved toward Elk River near
the mouth of Arrow Creek, stopping just east of the present Billings
Fairgrounds and on top of the rimrocks. The Elk River Valley was
below us and in those days seemed covered with buffalo.

After a few days camp moved west to a big bend in the river. The
women jerked and dried meat and tanned hides while we waited for
the ice to leave the river. Then we crossed, traveling along Blue
Creek and hunting for buffalo.

One day Young Mountain and I were hunting and stopped to smoke
on a ridge. I said that the season had come to go out, but warned him
not to tell Medicine Crow because he would tell his father, who
would try to stop us. He said that Medicine Crow probably would

103

not come anyhow because his new wife was so good looking he would
be afraid some young men would try to visit her.

He asked about the horses in my vision and I said that I had only
seen four clearly, two grays, a bay, and one with a split ear.

When we returned to camp I told my wife to make some extra
moccasins. Young Mountain had just gotten married and told his
wife to make some extra pairs also. When we were ready I built
a sweat lodge, making an offering to the sun.

Somehow Medicine Crow heard because he came to invite us to
his father's tipi for a smoke. Sees The Living Bull kept us there for
a long time trying to convince me that my time had not come. I prom-
ised to put off my trip but I lied. Later, when Young Mountain and
I were talking outside his tipi, Sees The Living Bull came out. He
warned us again not to go until my medicine told me, which he said
was not for another moon. He reminded me what had happened to
men who disobeyed their visions. But Young Mountain and I arranged
to start before dawn.

Just as we were leaving the next morning someone yelled Sioux had
stolen horses during the night. The whole camp was quickly awake
and search parties were formed. We joined them, since my last vision
had showed my next trail heading east. We caught up with some
more people on the banks of Elk River near the present east bridge of
Billings. After crossing the river all of us followed the Sioux trail to
Arrow Creek and from there south to the foot of the mountains. It
had grown dark but we rode all night until we came to the Bighorn
River close to where Fort C. F. Smith was later built. We saw where
they had killed a buffalo and stopped to eat beside the river. We kept
riding until Wolf Bear, the pipeholder, said that we could not catch
them before they reached their village. After deciding to return
home he ordered scouts to ride in the rear and on the flanks to prevent
men from running away. If anyone was caught his weapons would be
broken and he would have to travel back alone.

But I did not want to return without even seeing any Sioux. I told
Young Mountain to ride slowly to the head of the column. Working
our way up until only Wolf Bear was ahead, I whispered that at my
signal he should ride off to one direction and I would go in the other.
We arranged a place to meet.

We were riding fine horses and each carried a gun, ammunition,
a buffalo robe, plenty of moccasins, and dried meat. My medicine
was wrapped in its rawhide case and fastened to my belt. I pointed
104

to it, telling Young Mountain that it said we would return safely.

We were on the highest hill east of the site of Fort C. F. Smith,
about to descend its western slope, when I gave Young Mountain the
signal. Someone yelled as he galloped off to the left and I to the
right. When the scouts drove me to a high bank I slid down while
they stopped at the edge. Although they could not catch me now
I was careful as I rode to our meeting place at the foot of the Bighorn
Mountains. There I rested, holding my horse's reins and wondering if
Young Mountain had been caught. But soon he rode over a hill and
said he too had been chased off a bank. We quickly located the Sioux
trail, keeping careful watch as we rode. Then Young Mountain no-
ticed someone following us. It was Old Woman, who rode up to
ask where his friends were. When we broke away, he said, the scouts
had divided to chase us and this allowed others to scatter. They had
arranged to meet somewhere along the trail.

That night there was a full moon and we could see long distances,
No one else arrived so we rode east along a creek bottom until I no-
ticed horses ahead and stopped. They were Crows and I suggested
to them that we all ride until daylight to find the Sioux canip. Then
we could hide during the day and steal our horses back at night. I
thought the main camp would be either on Rotten Grass Creek or the
Little Bighorn River.

A boy named Tobacco riding a bad horse said that he was poor
and wanted to come. When we had run away he had dismounted,
pretending to tighten his cinch, and had been left behind. He knew
we were chasing the Sioux and said it did not matter if he was killed.

I pitied him and made certain he carried a good gun and knife. Then
I told my men that my last dream had promised me these horses. Even
though the old men wanted me to wait I knew my time had come.

The Sioux had stolen about two hundred head and their trail was
plain in the moonlight. We followed it to Rotten Grass Creek and
then upstream, arriving at the mountains about sunrise.

I was so tired I must have fallen asleep on my horse. Suddenly a
man appeared in the western sky pointing to something. Among a
bunch of horses I saw a black, a gray, and one with a split ear.

Young Mountain and I climbed a hilltop to scout while the rest
stayed in the thick trees. But I was too sleepy to see well. Then
Young Mountain pointed out a Sioux scout standing on a little rise
near some pine trees, a blanket wrapped around his gun and body.
After noticing seven more driving our stolen horses eastward, we

105

crept back down. I told my men to mount, hoping to get around the
next hill and surprise them from the front. Leading them out, I sang
my medicine song: "Thank you. A long time. I am going to be a
chief. Thank you."

I told my men not to be afraid and explained that this song had
come to me in a dream, that we would have good luck, recover our
horses, and kill some Sioux. I advised them to throw off their robes
to ride faster.

A man slightly ahead suddenly pulled in, saying by signs that he
saw tipi flaps. Abound the bend I saw tipis and people cooking. We
hurried out of sight and decided to hide in some nearby trees during
the day since we could not return to the mountains without being
discovered. Leading our horses into a deep coulee in the grove, we
left two young men with them and returned to the edge of the trees.

I told my men to paint themselves and get their medicines. As we
watched their camp we saw they were not Sioux but Cheyennes. The
sun rose higher and I told the others that at dawn I had been told we
would have horses tonight. Our luck had changed, and I told them to
smoke with me and not to worry.

While we were in the trees we noticed Cheyennes scouting the
country. I had the horses exercised deep in the trees. I also had some
men try to find food and water. We were suffering from thirst and
as the day wore on it grew worse. When the sun passed the middle
some men and women walked toward the flat near our hiding place
to play shinny. Several players came close that afternoon but none
entered the trees.

Finally the sun went down and we thanked the Great Above Person
for protecting us through the day and asked him to give us courage
for the night.

We were lucky that clouds covered the moon, just as we had been
lucky the night before when the clear moon showed us their trail.
As soon as it was completely dark we quietly walked our horses to
the river, allowing them to feed and drink so they would be fresh for
the work ahead. We heard the Cheyennes singing and beating their
drums and calling out the names of their men who had stolen horses.
We waited until the singing died down and the camp was quiet. Then
I told Young Mountain to choose two men and look for the black,
the gray, and the horse with the split ear. After showing him the
direction I told him to return if he did not find them.

For a while there was silence and then we heard horses. A large
1 06

bunch galloped in with our men behind them. Young Mountain rode
a spirited horse and was leading a black, a gray, and one with a
split ear.

Each of us roped one, turning our own in with the rest. Then every
man selected six to ten head to drive before him to make better time.
We rode all night and when the sun rose we saw no Cheyennes behind
us. For three days we had not eaten but I could not risk spoiling our
luck.

After sunset we found a sheltered place and stayed long enough to
water and feed our horses while we killed a buffalo and quickly
broiled some meat. Then we rode through that night and at sunrise
reached the top of the rimrocks along Elk River. In the valley below
we saw our people taking down their tipis. After painting ourselves
and unwrapping our medicines we drove the horses through camp,
singing and shooting our guns into the air. I felt very happy because
it was the second time I had been this lucky.

We rode past Wolf Bear but he was angry at having returned with-
out horses or scalps and lacking men, and would not notice us.

Soon after this trip my wife left me and I married a girl named
Medicine Porcupine. Although she was the daughter of Chief Shell
On The Neck he did not make me give any presents for her. He must
have thought well of me. She was a good woman and I was happy
with her.

The camp moved and hunting began for fresh hides for tipi covers.
When we had enough we moved to Arrowhead Mountains for more
tipi poles.

107

Chaffer T^ineteen

In his recollections Two Leggings mentions practically

every class of Crow medicine bundle. While their junctions

often overlap, distinctions can be made.

Twice Two Leggings describes Sun Dance bundles.

They can be termed war medicines, but they were never

carried on raids. Two Leggings discounted the power of his

first proper war medicine bundle because it was

a gift from his non-warrior brother. When he manufactures

two unaccredited bundles, both are another

kind of war medicine the hoop medicine bundle. One of the

prime ingredients in the bundle which will answer

Two Leggings' prayers is a small rock, a "child" of Sees

The Living Bull's famous rock medicine bundle.

Preparing for Ms raid, Hunts The Enemy is given the

choice of two bundles to take along, a skull medicine bundle

and an arrow medicine bundle. While the latter was

an ordinary war medicine, the -former rivaled the Sun Dance

bundle in sacredness.

Other varieties were the love medicine bundle

described in this chapter, the witchcraft medicine of bear sinew

in the Bear White Child legend, the buffalo-hunting

medicine which Two Leggings fabricates and

then legitimately purchases, and the horse medicine which

he uses for a speedy escape from Sioux.

WHILE OUR CAMP was at the joining of the Bighorn River and the
Stinking Water south of the Arrowhead Mountains, Wolf Bear led a
108

war party to stop people from talking about him. Poor Face and Fire
Wing were among his warriors. They came upon Cheyennes during
their Sun Dance while the Arapahoes and other tribes were camped
with them. When they returned with many horses the celebration in
their honor made me very anxious to go out.

I spoke to Half Yellow Face and Bear In the Water, both pipe-
holders. They had also been excited by Wolf Bear's raid and soon we
had a group of young men.

Half Yellow Face called us into his dpi after sundown. I sat to the
right of Bear In The Water who was to the right of Half Yellow Face.
The other warriors completed the circle around the fire. When Half
Yellow Face's wife placed some glowing coals in front of him he lit
his pipe and it was passed around. A closed medicine bundle lay before
him on a buffalo robe. When the pipe returned he stood up, lifted his
hands to the sky, and asked the Great Above Person to look down on
us. He said that when the sun returned in the morning we would be
on our way. He said that he was taking along the powerful medicine
which the Great Above Person had given to Cold Wind, through his
powerful servants, the elks. He promised to pray and sacrifice to it and
asked the Great Above Person to protect us on this revenge trail.

After sitting down he laid sweet grass on the coals and purified his
hands and the bundle in the smoke. Then he untied the thongs, slowly
peeled off the wrappings, and spread the contents before him.

The medicine's main object was a flute, painted yellow and with
two lines carved into it, one straight and the other zigzag. An elk's
head and a bighorn sheep's head were also carved into the flute. A
bunch of curlew and red woodpecker feathers was attached and an
eagle feather hung from the end. Half Yellow Face addressed the bun-
dle as his father and said that it had carried its child, Cold Wind,
through many danger trails. Cold Wind had made him a duplicate
medicine and now Half Yellow Face said he was also its child. Half
Yellow Face prayed that the medicine would protect him and all who
accompanied him. He asked its help in finding the Cheyennes so we
could recapture our horses and return safely home.

After singing four medicine songs belonging to the bundle he laid
the medicine back on the robe. He explained that Cold Wind had re-
ceived it during a long fast on a high mountain top near the head of
the Stillwater River. He had seen a flute with bark on the stem appear-
ing above the horizon, as if a strong hand were pushing it from below.
When the flute's full length was visible it sank out of sight. The sec-

109

ond time the flute appeared the bark was peeled from the wood and
the third time Cold Wind noticed carvings on it. The fourth time it
came forward until it stood in front of him. Then it disappeared and
before him a man on horseback was playing the flute. This man was
surrounded by enemies; and each time he played, one enemy was killed.
Four times he blew and each time he took their scalps. Cold Wind
noticed that the man was himself. This vision went away and another
man carrying a flute rode up from the horizon; he recognized himself
again. When this man played his flute some women tried to take it
away from him, but he held it too high. Half Yellow Face explained
that it was also a love medicine but that we were using it only as a war
medicine which was its strongest power. After the man had changed
himself into a bighorn sheep, the vision disappeared.

Calling us his brothers, Half Yellow Face said that he was telling us
all this so we would have faith in the medicine. He pointed to the
curlew and woodpecker feathers and said that Cold Wind had seen
those birds sitting on the flute as the man was holding it. The curlew
had said it would stop him if he tried to lie. The woodpecker had said
that no wood was too hard to penetrate. Half Yellow Face explained
that we all knew the birds were divided into two clans and that along
with some other birds the woodpecker belonged to the curlew's clan.
The curlew was telling his clan members to help the dreamer and never
to deceive him. Half Yellow Face explained that the woodpecker's
words were like our saying, "I will eat that deed," which means that
no matter how difficult or dangerous something is, it will be no harder
than eating a meal. The woodpecker goes through the toughest wood
with the same ease; Half Yellow Face said that with its help and this
medicine's power we would overcome our trail's danger the same way.

Showing us the eagle feather he said that Cold Wind had been told
his body and breath were in it. Whenever he took the medicine on
the warpath it would be as hard for the enemy to shoot him as to hit
this feather fluttering in the wind.

He said that the carved straight line was the vision man's voice
which went straight out to an enemy and killed him. The green-
painted zigzag line was the spirit of the medicine owner's voice which
goes first to the earth and then to the enemies, confusing them so they
can be easily killed. Half Yellow Face said that the carved heads were
the two animals appearing to Cold Wind. They had also given the
medicine songs he had iust sung to us. Those animals were members
of the medicine's clan along with the curlew, the woodpecker, the
no

swallow, the gum eater, the deer, the moose, the mule deer, the bear,
and the chicken hawk. We were to watch out for those animals on our
trail because they would tell us what to do. He said that if they ap-
peared in our dreams we must tell him so we could be guided and re-
turn singing victory songs.

The flute was painted yellow, he said, because of the yellow flowers
of spring and the yellow leaves of autumn. The medicine's power
would last from season to season until forever, granting old age to its
owner. 1

Finally the medicine was passed around and we each prayed for it
to give us strength and good luck. Then we began the medicine songs,
singing them so often that I warned Half Yellow Face. But he would
not listen. Our medicine fathers want us to pray, to sing the songs they
have given us, and to go through the ceremony accompanying each
medicine, but they do not want this overdone. Half Yellow Face
would not stop and sang for most of the night.

We left camp just before dawn, crossed the Bighorn Mountains,
and descended their eastern slopes. Three days later we located a large
Cheyenne camp close to the present town of Sheridan. For the rest of
that day we hid among the cottonwood groves that lined the river, but
moved in with darkness, I was in the rear when I heard shouting and
shots. Running back and mounting my horse I galloped toward the
mountains. Everyone had scattered but it seemed as if all the Chey-
ennes were after me. They had enough moonlight to see and were
still behind at daybreak. I reached the mountains and whipped my
exhausted horse up the steep slopes. By the time we were on top it
could hardly walk. I jumped off and ran, praying out loud. Behind me
the Cheyennes were singing. I was sure they would torture me before
killing me. Although the rough ground kept them from riding fast I
could never escape on foot.

Then I saw Great Unmarried Man on a large black horse at the edge
of a cliff. About sixty feet below, the ground was covered with big
boulders. The Cheyennes were now within shooting range and bullets
whistled over our heads. Yelling for the boy to jump I threw myself
off, hit the rocks, and rolled to the bottom. I looked myself over; my
legs and arms were only skinned. The boy had ridden off on his horse.
His head was cut on top and one leg was gashed open. The horse was
so badly hurt we had to abandon it. As the Cheyennes appeared at the
cliff top, throwing rocks and shooting, we crawled down the canyon.
Once out of sight I wanted to keep moving because they would prob-

in

ably run along the canyon ridge until they found a place to climb
down.

I knew all this bad luck was because Half Yellow Face had angered
his medicine father by singing too many songs.

The Cheyennes must have begun chasing the other men. We stopped
hearing their shouts and saw them no more. The boy was vomiting
because he was scared. When he told me to go home alone I said I
would wait to bury him. Then he cried for water so I laid him in the
shelter of a big rock and found a creek about half a mile away. I
packed him there on my back and we went to sleep.

The next morning I discovered a spring and after he felt a little
better I helped him walk. We drank cold water and I bathed his head
wound. We only had our guns, my knife, and our shirts. As night fell
we grew cold so I cut off leafy branches for cover. I woke up to the
boy whispering for me not to move. Opening my eyes I saw a large
rattlesnake sliding along my body. It raised its head and crawled across
my chest. I have always been afraid of these snakes but I lay still. After
it had slid away I could not move and sweat covered my body. When I
finally tried to stand, my legs would not hold me.

It was bright and very hot so I told the boy we should start early.
I had not eaten anything since the night before and was very hungry.
The boy was still weak and asked for a stick to support himself. Then
we began walking through the woods. We saw more rattlesnakes but
felt too miserable to kill them. Before long the boy said he felt dried
up and was dying.

When I said we would reach home together he asked me to tell his
mother to come after him. But then he said that maybe it was better if
I waited until he was dead so I could take his gun to her.

The worst part was our hunger, and I had seen no game. All the
time the boy begged me to leave him, but I would not listen. About
three bowshots away I saw some willows; in the mountains that al-
ways means water. Packing him on my shoulders I carried him to the
spring and dipped water for him with my hands. He could not get
enough. During the day it grew hotter. The boy kept calling me
brother and saying that he was starving. He cried when he thought of
his mother. He had always been her favorite because her other children
had not treated her well. I became angry and started to weep also, mak-
ing up this song: "We have no way to live anymore. Soon we will be
dead."

The boy told me to stop because he was not dead yet. Then I told
him to be quiet. But when I suggested killing a deer he begged me not
112

to leave him. I knocked off the horn from a buffalo skull and brushed
out the inside with the chewed end of a willow twig. In this I mixed
wild peppermint and water. He drank it and felt better. During the
hottest part of the day we lay down. When I was asleep I saw a dead
tree with frost on its bark. A voice said that horses were near this
tree. A person appeared, showing me the horses and saying that on the
other side of this hill was something to let me live. When I woke late
in the afternoon Great Unmarried Man said he did not think he was
sick anymore but complained that the rocks hurt his feet. Both our
moccasins were in pieces and we stopped at some pine trees where I
scraped off pitch and glued a piece of my breechcloth to the inside of
his moccasins. We slowly made our way to some nearby woods and at
nightfall I cut branches to cover us. Before the boy went to sleep I
gave him sage to chew. He did not like its bitterness, but the next
morning said that some more might help cure him. I said I was not giv-
ing it for a medicine but because fast animals eat sage and it might help
him run.

He chewed some more but it made him thirsty and he spit it out.
After he heard about my dream he was willing to find something that
would help us to live. Finally we reached the other canyon wall. As
we were resting I noticed something black moving in the trees. Before
I went to look I told the boy that if he heard shooting to lie very still.

It turned out to be a horse drinking from a spring, a buffalo-hide
rope fastened to its saddle. Immediately I fell to the ground. But I was
ready to risk anything and when no one appeared I walked up. The
horse was very tame and when I rode back to the boy I said that this was
the Great Above Person's gift which had been shown to me.

I held the horse's lead while we faced the sun to pray. A buckskin
bag was also tied to the saddle, holding three pairs of moccasins. They
were too small for me but fit the boy.

He rode while I ran alongside holding on to the saddle. In those days
I was a great runner and for a long time we traveled that way toward
the northern valley. After crossing the divide we rode double and that
afternoon entered the valley.

The boy felt well but hungry and I was also starved. But when I
wanted to kill our horse he said it had saved our lives and we should
take it home. There was no use staying at a creek we had just reached
so we rode double again until we came upon a small buffalo herd. We
were afraid to ride too near. As I dismounted I prayed to the sun to
give us just one.

Crawling on the off-wind side to within a few feet of a young bull,

113

I killed it with one shot. Great Unmarried Man was anxious to eat
but I reminded him of our older people's warning that if we have not
eaten for a long time we should first drink some blood, then eat the
tallow, and finally take just a little meat.

After drinking some blood we packed all the meat we could carry.
In the woods I built a fire with my flint and steel which I always car-
ried in a leather sack on my belt. Then we broiled and ate some tallow.
Finally I cooked a rib, warning him that if he ate too much he would
feel worse than after jumping off that cliff. We forgot our troubles
and I stopped being so cautious. The whole country seemed friendly.

I told the boy not to be afraid because my dream had shown we
would return home safely and would go out again this winter to cap-
ture many horses.

I cut out the sac holding the buffalo's heart, stretched it on a willow
twig, and filled it with water. I also skinned the hide, burned off the
hair, and cut a piece to cover my foot and meet on the instep and be-
hind the heel. Then I sewed the pieces together with an awl and sinew
from the buffalo's back muscles. When it dried it would fit tightly.
We also loaded plenty of meat on our saddle.

We rode until sunset when we stopped to eat and then continued
on through the night. Two days later, on the banks of Elk River near
the Mountain Lion's Lodge, we found our camp.

Everyone thought we were long since dead and there was great
excitement as our horse walked among the tipis. Those who had seen
me outnumbered could not imagine how I had escaped. I had to tell
our story many times. Even Sees The Living Bull wanted to know
about it. I also told him of my dream and said that I expected to cap-
ture those horses as soon as the frost was on the trees. This did not
make him happy. He said I had been given those horses for the snow
season after this one and that earlier I would have bad luck.

But I could not understand my dream that way, and planned a raid
for the coming snow season. Now I know he was right.

114

Chapter Twenty

Long after Big Crane was renamed Two Leggings, as told
here, he received a third name, His Eyes Are Dreamy, probably

relating to some visionary experience.

At birth, names were either conferred by a selected paternal

clansman or taken from the first objects the mother saw after

delivery, a white-hipped horse, the top of a moccasin, and so on.

A subsequent vision, a noteworthy battle exploit, or a personal

peculiarity might yield a man more names. Old Dog, the maker

of one of Two Leggings' hoop bundles, was so known because

of his habit of leading an old dog to carry his spare moccasins.

In adult life, a new name often announced a new personality

and a luckier fortune.

Some nicknames expressed characteristic behavior of paternal

clansmen. "Both girls and boys received names this way. Once a

woman hit herself over the head in a fit of anger; thereafter

one of her brother's children was known as Hits Herself

Over The Head.

SHORTLY AFTER OUR CLOSE ESCAPE, camp moved to the Arrowhead
Mountains, stopping near Hits With The Arrows. Grass season had
passed and leaf-falling season was nearly over. The mountains gave
us wood and sheltered us from the cold eastern winds. There was
plenty of game and we faced Arrow Creek, which gave us all the
water we needed. Our camp site was so good that everyone was glad
to hear we would stay for the snow season.

Two Belly asked me to be his neighbor and I had my wife pitch
our tipi next to his. Then I visited him often and listened to his stories.

115

He told me that my past honors were not enough to make me a
pipeholder whom the chiefs would allow to lead a war party. He said
that if I kept acting recklessly someday they would mourn my
death. He advised me to buy a medicine bundle from some well-
known medicine man.

I answered that I was sure I would not die in battle. Although I had
not enjoyed the luck I would have wanted, I said this would change.
Already I had fasted several times and would keep doing it until I
received a dream powerful enough to make me a chief. In the mean-
time, I said, I would join raiding parties.

Before the cold weather we made a few hunting trips as far as the
Bull Mountains along the Musselshell River. Then the days began
shortening and one morning we woke up in the middle of a freezing
blizzard. Everything was covered with snow, but we were safe and
warm. Those were the days when we visited each other's tipis and
when the old men told tales of our grandfathers. I wanted to show
myself as brave as those men. I wanted to make a name for myself
which would be spoken by my grandchildren years after I had gone
to the Other Side Camp.

Although we count the new year from the time the snow-turned-
back [the first snowfall] it was still late leaf-falling season and a few
days later a warm wind blew in. The snow began melting and some
places were completely bare. About this time I heard that Bushy
Head was going to the Sioux country. I was the first to ask to join.

In the early morning, after Bushy Head's preparations, thirteen of
us set out on foot, leading two pack horses to carry our supplies.
Bushy Head had dreamed of Sioux horses along Big River and some
distance below Plum Creek. We followed Arrow Creek to Elk River,
which we crossed at the Mountain Lion's Lodge, and walked through
the hills toward the Musselshell River. Late one night we reached
the southern spurs of the Bull Mountains and made camp in a thick
pine grove. We had been traveling for some time and our supplies
were gone. Two men went looking for buffalo and soon returned
with two hides and meat. After cooking and eating the best parts we
went to sleep. No guards were placed since we were still far from
Sioux country. We slept past sunrise and while we washed in a creek
a helper built our cooking fire. Then we ate, roasting some meat to
pack with us, and continued north.

The wind was still west and by now almost all the snow was gone.
116

We hoped for colder weather since it was tiring to walk across the
soft ground.

Toward evening we arrived at the Musselshell River. The younger
men wanted to spend the night here but Bushy Head and I were for
crossing and his word was law. Some did not like this but we were
on the other side before sundown,

We camped a few miles north of the present town of Roundup at
the base of a rimrock with pines on top. The weather was so fine that
after eating we fell asleep without making a shelter. Again we placed
no guard and the rimrocks protected us from the little wind now
coming from the north.

Sometime past the middle of the night I felt that someone slapped
my face. Waking up, I did not recognize the country. I felt very cold
and noticed my blanket had been blown away. It was snowing hard
with a strong east wind rushing around the rimrock edge.

I woke up the others, afraid they would freeze without enough
covers. Some of the young men, tired from the long march, had not
felt the change and were already numb. Weasel could not feel any-
thing from the knees down and was unable to stand.

We moved about a mile west where a sharp curve in the rimrocks
protected us from the wind. After rubbing Weasel's legs with snow
we placed him next to a fire and wrapped a blanket around him.

We were afraid to fall asleep and huddled together with our backs
to the rimrock. The fire reflected off the rocks and kept us a little
warm. Although we were glad to see daylight, it grew colder. We
roasted the remaining meat which made us feel better. The snow had
stopped just before dawn and Bushy Head gave orders to move. But as
we were packing the two horses it fell again and we decided to wait.
The wind blew harder and soon there was a blizzard, the snow so
thick you could not see an arm's length ahead. We fed that small
fire through that day and that night and through the next day and
the next night. On the morning of the third day the sun finally ap-
peared, but the air was colder with the clear sky.

We had not eaten anything for two days and saw no game so we
decided to try to reach the trader's store at the mouth of Plum Creek.
The snow was higher than our knees and higher than a horse in the
drifts along the coulees. It would take us about four days to walk to
the store, but camp was even farther away and Bushy Head did not

want to go back.

117

I was only wearing a torn pair of buckskin leggings and as we
started out my legs grew numb. I took the red blanket from around
my shoulders and cut it into leggings. The buffalo hide we had
brought was frozen stiff and I cut off its long hair. Pulling the extra
leggings over my old pair I tied them at the ankles and stuffed hair in
between.

Someone had killed a deer. Bushy Head was roasting the meat and
as I walked up he stared. My legs were like young pine trees. When he
called me Lots Of Leggings the others laughed, telling me to eat or
I would have only extra leggings for my meal.

They teased me for three more days, calling me that name until we
reached the trader's store at the mouth of Plum Creek on Big River. In
the store the trader saw my leggings and asked a man who spoke a
little English my name. When he said Lots Of Leggings the trader
did not understand and said Two Leggings; my friend said that was

right.

The weather stayed cold and more snow fell. For many days we
walked along Big River trying to find the Sioux camp, often camping
to wait for the weather to improve. After traveling like this for two
moons, the days began to lengthen. Finally we located the Sioux and
stole about fifty horses. It snowed some more, but now we were glad
to have it hide our tracks.

On our way back we passed the trader's store and again he called me
Two Leggings. For the rest of the trip we had cold weather and I
never took off those leggings. The snow became so heavy the horses
wore out and in the early spring, when we walked into our camp,
only one remained. There was great rejoicing as we had long since
been given up for dead. Two Belly was the first to invite me for a
smoke and asked about our trip. After I finished he smoked silently
until his pipe was empty.

First he called me Big Crane but then he said Two Leggings. I had
been on a dangerous journey, he said, and it was good this trail gave
me a new name. He hoped it would also remind me of my foolishness.
Every time I went on the warpath I seemed to meet worse dangers
and one day I would not return. While I had not had to fight this
time, he said, I had little to show for it. He thought this a warning
from the Great Above Person. I told him that the next day I was build-
ing a sweat lodge and was going to invite him and a few other great
men. I promised to make the medicine I had seen in my dream. Although
I had made such a medicine before, with Old Dog's help, I said the
118

ceremony had been short and was not followed by the ceremonial
sweat bath I thought necessary.

He answered that they would not enter my sweat lodge until I had
shown them my medicine and told them about it.

I was disappointed because I knew they would never accept my
first medicine. But I was sensing a change in my life and was willing
to do as they said.

After inviting Bull Weasel, one of our oldest medicine men, to help
me, I began to gather the materials. First I needed a big hawkskin and
so I left early the next morning. After searching all day without any
luck I returned to learn that I had been chosen leader of five scouts
to search for buffalo on a mountain called High Peak In The Middle.

We left before dawn. The weather was mild and we reached the
mountain by the middle of the second day. Standing on top and look-
ing through my telescope, we located several large herds and some
smaller ones grazing close to us. After sending three men back to
camp, I had nothing to do while camp moved to the mountain's base
so I hunted for the hawk and finally killed one. Our people arrived
three days later. As soon as my tipi was set up Bull Weasel helped with
my medicine.

I made a hoop from a red willow branch. Covering it with buckskin
I painted it half blue and half black and tied the hawkskin and some
red feathers to it. The black meant night and the blue the earth. The
red, feathers meant the clouds and the hawkskin was my vision. Bull
Weasel and I took all day to complete it. Much singing and smudging
and other ceremonies were necessary to make it powerful. Then I in-
vited Two Belly and some other men to my sweat lodge. When they
heard my medicine had been properly made they arrived. I was glad
and began thinking about going out on raids again.

But when I met Crooked Arm he said that although I owned an
accepted medicine I was not to act carelessly. He still thought I should
stay in camp this coming snow season.

He made me angry and I did not answer. I stayed in camp for many
days, thinking only of my medicine. The snow was melting fast, and
each day I felt more like leaving.

119

Chaffer Twenty-One

When Two Leggings dreamt his wishful dreams, they

promised horses as 'well as scalps. The animals he saw 'were

descendants of horses which originated from Santa

Fe's stock-raising environs in the early seventeenth century.

Between 1730 and 1760 the Comanches, and their

cousins the Shoshonis, furnished the Crows with their

first mounts. This set in motion a trade which found the Crows

driving herds obtained from western transmontane tribes

into present-day North Dakota. At the Mandan

and Hidatsa villages they obtained twice the horses'

original value in such European-made articles as knives, axes,

kettles, gunpowder, and Northwest Company flintlocks.

Also they exchanged articles of their own manufacture

dried meat, buffalo robes, and tipi covers for squash,

pumpkins, smoking tobacco, and corn.

Horses quickly replaced dogs as the Crow index of

wealth. Before long the Crows were second only to

the Flatheads in their horse holdings. Accounts allot at least

fifteen head per tipi, with the number often soaring to a

hundred.

On July 21, 1806, the explorers Lewis and Clark

awoke to find twenty-four horses missing. All that remained

of the thieves was a cast-off moccasin and a piece

of robe. Their first theft of American mounts epitomized the

intent and extent of Crow concern with white interlopers.

THAT HUNT WAS not very successful and everyone was hungry for
fresh meat after the long winter of eating only dried meat. Our chief de-

120

tided to move east and meet the herds that roamed south each spring
season. After crossing the Bighorn River we camped near the Wolf
Mountains where we got most of the robes and fresh meat we needed.
Then we left for the joining of the Little Bighorn and Bighorn rivers
where Two Belly wanted to camp briefly before moving into the
Arrowhead Mountains. When I told him of large herds which I had
heard were grazing in the Pine Ridge Hills he announced camp would
head there after some more hunting along the Elk River bottom lands.

Two days later we left and at dusk arrived at a camping place. We
hunted again for several days and then one morning left for Elk River,
spending the first night at the Mountain Lion's Lodge. That night
I had a dream. My medicine bird flew to earth with a man in its claws,
dropping the body near the Musselshell River on a ridge in the Bull
Mountains. Then four enemies heading toward this same ridge fell
dead, and a beautiful buckskin horse came to me.

When I woke up I lay still, wondering what it meant. I remembered
my dream during my escape from the Cheyennes and the Wise Ones'
advice not to go out. But they could not know how clear and strong
my dreams had been. I would go out this coming snow season for the
things my medicine fathers had promised.

That day I built a sweat lodge for the Great Above Person and said
prayers for success, gave thanks for my dream, and offered red feath-
ers instead of the usual red blanket. People heard that I was preparing
for a raid. Young Mountain rode over from the Many Lodges and
several other warriors asked to join.

Two Belly and Crooked Arm invited Young Mountain and me to
Crooked Arm's tipi. After our smoke Two Belly said that if I took those
other men with me camp would be unprotected. He said Crooked Arm
had dreamt that if I left now someone would be killed. Two Belly
wanted to move camp to the mouth of Arrow Creek and from there
through Hits With The Arrows to the Buffalo Heart Mountain.
Enemy signs had been found and he thought we would be safe there.
He said we had killed enough buffalo and now the women needed
new tipi poles which we could cut in the mountains. Two Belly asked
why I wanted to bring sorrow to the people.

I promised to tell him the next day whether I was going. But I
described the four bodies and the beautiful horse which had come to
me. A successful raid, I said, would give our people more reason to be
happy and to dance.

I lied when I said I might give up my trip. I could not forget what

121

my medicine bird had given me. When we were outside I told Young
Mountain that we would remain with the camp through the next day
but would leave early the following morning.

On one of his last hunts north of the Elk River and close to the
Bull Mountains Young Mountain had seen enemies, but being alone
he had turned back. That was my dream's direction, and I told him of
the bodies and the beautiful buckskin.

Early the next morning the tipis were taken down, the pack horses
and travois loaded, and our camp leader led us to the mouth of the
Arrow Creek. From the Mountain Lion's Lodge to here was not far
and our tipis were up long before sunset. The chief wanted to stay
for a few days while our people traded at the new white man's store
built by Long Beard [Thomas McGirl]. 1

Telling Young Mountain and the others to keep their horses in
camp that night, I also warned them not to mention our plans. But
someone must have talked because late in the evening I was called to
Two Belly's tipi. On the way I met Young Mountain and said that
whatever happened we would leave as soon as I left the tipi.

After we smoked I was given a good meal and then Two Belly said
that he had heard I was taking away many of his best warriors. He
told me it was not safe to leave camp without protection and to re-
member Crooked Arm's advice.

As I was promising not to go a horse galloped up to the tipi and
One Blue Bead ran in, covered with sweat. We had been raided dur-
ing the night and all of his and Shot In The Arm's horses were gone
along with many more. He had found one of the thieves' ropes and
they were Sioux.

Outside I joined Young Mountain and we ran for the horses. Camp
was wide awake with most men jumping on the first horse they found.
The women and children were crying over their stolen horses; the
men were singing war songs.

Riding up to my tipi I dashed inside for my gun and medicine and
ran out. When I jumped on my horse to catch up with the others,
Young Mountain was close behind. Everyone seemed to be spreading
out. I noticed someone near the river bank calling to us. It was Black
Head, who had discovered where the Sioux had crossed.

He told me to lead since I had been planning a raid and had said my
dream was good. But he said that the earth does not move and by travel-
ing steadily we could overtake them. He wanted to be sure our horses
would not lose their strength.

After fording the river and picking up their tracks on the other
122

side I made them stop so I could make medicine. Kneeling on the
Sioux tracks which headed north over a group of ridges toward the
Bull Mountains, I drew a straight line across their trail with my finger.
Then I formed a dirt bank along the line's far side and made a smudge
of white pine needles. Sitting on the trail I faced where the Sioux had
gone and smoked my pipe. I pointed the stem and told the Sioux to
smoke this and wait until I caught up with them. Now their trail
would be rough and they would grow sleepy.

After I stood up I unwrapped my medicine and prayed to the Great
Above Person through whom I had received it, saying that I had acted
as he had said and asking him to have pity on the women and children
crying over their horses.

As I finished a stolen horse walked out of the brush toward us. Here
I said was the sign of my medicine's power. We were eight but Black
Head asked me to wait for others. Whenever we were about to leave,
men would call to us from the opposite bank.

About the middle of the day we finally left. It grew very hot and I
prayed this would make the Sioux sleepy. Their trail led east and
north, directly toward the spot where I had seen the four bodies. Now
I knew that everything would come true.

Late that afternoon we came to where they had killed a buffalo and
made a fire. I would never have stopped for a meal the first day out;
already they were growing careless.

Young Mountain, Hawk High Up, and I rode ahead to a nearby
hill. If we saw anything we were to ride our horses back and forth.
But when we searched through my telescope there was no sign of
Sioux, and we signaled for the others to join us. After doing the same
thing on the next ridge my men killed a deer and cooked some meat.
We rode to a third hill, picketed our horses near the top, and crawled
to the cover of some tall bushes. A big basin lay before us and at the
far end I could see the Bull Mountains covered with pine trees. By the
time the rest had caught up the shadows were long. But we had ridden
slowly during the day and our horses were still fresh. I told my friends
we would travel the shortest route to the pine-covered ridge in my
dream, close to the Musselshell River.

The moon shone brightly enough for us to ride apart from the
Sioux tracks. I did not want to corne upon them in the night. Soon
after the first streaks of dawn showed in the east we reached the ridge.
Black Head had noticed a big buffalo herd to the east. The Sioux had
not yet passed.

After picketing our horses we took off our saddles and rested.

123

Young Mountain, One Blue Bead, Paints His Body Red, and I kept
a careful lookout from behind the trees on top.

Noticing movement on the hills several rifle-shot distances to the
south, I picked up my telescope. Horses broke out of some timber
with men riding behind, all heading for us. I counted five Sioux and
recognized our horses.

I left One Blue Bead and ran down to the others. We painted our
faces and unwrapped our medicines, tying them where we had been
told in our dreams. Bobtail Wolf painted seven red spots on his face
running from one side of his jawbone over his forehead to the other
and representing the dipper. He tied his foretop with a piece of otter
skin, fastened some feathers to the back of his head, and sang a medi-
cine song: "My son is coming."

Boils His Leggings sang a medicine song for Young Mountain,
painted a red bar over his mouth, and fastened a red-painted eagle
feather in his hair. Making him face the Sioux, he pointed to the sun
and said that he wanted Young Mountain to do some brave thing so
the people would know him. He called him his son and told him to
look into the sky.

Bobtail Wolf sang a medicine song for his brother Goes First.
Then he fastened an otter-skin strip to his brother's forehead and gave
him a shield painted with the thunderbird. He sang another medi-
cine song, repeating it until Black Head and Few warned him to stop.

Black Head asked me to sing a medicine song for the whole party.
Seeing that the Sioux were still far away, I sang one. Bobtail Wolf
was singing another medicine song for his brother: "My child, I am
coming toward you."

He told his brother that it was strong medicine and would protect
him. He sang again: "I am coming toward you today."

Telling my men to stand close together, I rode around them four
times, praying for the Great Above Person to help us recover our
horses and kill some Sioux. Then I sang my medicine song: "Any-
where I go I will always thank you. Thank long ago. I will be a chief."

Bobtail Wolf was still singing for his brother. When we tried to
stop him he said we meant nothing to him. We felt sorry for his
brother.

Taking my eagle-tail medicine out of its wrappings, I whistled seven
times and looked under the hoop. Four enemies lay on the ground and
a number of horses ran toward me. Black Head had watched and
asked what would happen. I told him not to be afraid, that I had seen
my true dream again.
124

One Blue Bead ran down to say they were getting close. When he
had first looked through my telescope he had recognized a pinto, a
roan, a baldface, and a black horse. These were among our fastest
horses; it would have been difficult to catch them. A Sioux was leading
the pinto as if he meant to ride it and another man was on the black.
But just before One Blue Bead had left, this man on the black had
changed mounts to chase a small buffalo herd to the north.

I sent Young Mountain up the ridge, telling him to signal when they
were within rifle shot. I told my men to shoot straight because One
Blue Bead had reported that they all carried good guns and one also
had a bow. The younger men were very excited and I had trouble
holding them back.

Then Young Mountain made signs and jumped on his horse. Yelling
our war cries, we whipped our horses over the ridge. When the Sioux
heard us they dropped the stolen horses and raced to a nearby hill,
dismounting and shooting from behind rocks.

Some of us rounded up our horses while the rest surrounded the
Sioux. When we had driven them a safe distance I left some younger
men as guards and rode back. Our men were riding in fast circles
around the Sioux, hanging over their horses' sides and shooting from
under their necks.

One of their horses broke loose and galloped in front of me. When
I caught its reins I saw the beautiful buckskin of my dreams. Now I
was sure we would kill the four men. We had seen the fifth Sioux re-
turn from his hunting and run off when he saw his friends surrounded.

We were not hitting anyone so I told my men to dismount and
crawl up. A Sioux called to us, waving his knife over his head. Loud
Hawk said that he was calling us women and asking us to come near
so he could stab us. I told my men to close in and not let the yelling
make them nervous.

Big Lake was lying in front behind a boulder. As he lifted his rifle
he fell back. We thought he was dead but his forehead had only been
grazed. We dragged him out of the shooting. After a quick council
we decided to charge. The first time we were thrown back but then
we drove them out of the rocks and into a coulee. The one who had
called us women had run first. Big Lake recovered and now crawled
to the coulee's edge and shot into it. A Sioux stumbled out with blood
pouring from his forehead, threw out Ms arms, and fell on bis back.

As Goes First ran to join Big Lake, singing his medicine song, he
was shot through the heart. This was because his brother had sung too

many songs over him.

125

We were all angry and charged the three remaining men. One was
killed immediately but we did not know who did it, he was hit so
many times. Young Mountain was in front of me running down the
coulee with his head bent forward. A bullet struck him in the neck,
coming out his spine. Another bullet cut a hole in my shirt but I kept
running and shot into the head of the man who had killed Young
Mountain. Pulling out my knife, I slashed at his scalp. Then I began
crying and shot him again and again. I forgot everything until I heard
sounds like animals growling and turned to see Old Tobacco holding
the last Sioux's rifle barrel. We could not aim because they were
jumping around so much. Old Tobacco gave a wrench and the Sioux
slipped on a stone. As he fell he pulled the trigger and the bullet hit
Old Tobacco in the forearm, coming out the middle of his upper arm.
Before the Sioux could get to his feet two bullets knocked him on his
back. He was still trying to stand when Bobtail Wolf ran up and
stabbed him twice in the neck. Blood poured out and he fell dead.

We scalped only three because the last man's hair was short and
dirty. We let that fifth man get away. After carrying my partner and
Goes First to the top of a high bluff we covered their bodies with
rocks.

My dream had come true, but our homecoming was sad. Crooked
Arm's dream had also come true. Young Mountain's death was a great
sorrow for me. I could not be content with our success and made up
my mind to take revenge.

When we returned Two Belly called me to his tipi and reminded
me that he had wanted to go to the Arrowhead Mountains. Now I
had lost my best friend and another man also. He said that my dream
might have been true but that if I had listened to the older men's ad-
vice I could have found another opportunity. Their dreams, he said,
had more truth than those of young men.

He was right and I kept silent. Immediately we broke camp and
moved to Arrow Creek, traveling through Hits With The Arrows
towards the Buffalo Heart Mountain. As our camp moved from place
to place, following the buffalo, I would often walk into the hills to
weep over Young Mountain.

126

Chaffer Twenty-Two

Two Leggings looped he 'would regain the

goodwill of Sees The Living Bull through a ceremony of the

Tobacco society. This group 7 s activities revolved

around the cultivation of a holy plant never smoked

and the adoption rites -for new members.

Two Leggings ascribed the plant's origin to the

time of creation. Another story calls it the personal medicine

of No Vitals, the chief who led the Crows away from

the Hidatsa. In turn new chapters were -formed by men

receiving visions with variations on the Tobacco

theme: Breath dreamt of a blackbird; when his newly organized

Blackbirds danced they wore blankets to Imitate wings and

attached blackbird skins to their backs.

The annual planting ceremony occurred when the

chokecherries ripen around May. The Crow word for the

society, "soaking" referred to the preparation

given the seeds prior to planting. A procession, led by "He That

Mixes" the rite's official, walked to that season's plot,

which was fenced in with a brush barricade. There

the seeds were planted, with each couple allowed two rows.

Another ritual occurred during the harvest when the

chokecherries are ripe, sometime in late summer.

YOUNG MOUNTAIN HAD DIED because I had not followed the medicine
men's advice. It was hard to have to learn this "way. In the past I had
met with some good luck and had also experienced many close escapes,
but now I had lost my best friend. I began to see how reckless and
foolish I had been.

127

One day when we were camped near the Buffalo Heart Mountain
I noticed some well-known men talking together on a hillside, Two
Belly, Sees Under, Crooked Arm, Old Dog, and No Fears. After
Crooked Arm had called me over he told me to wait before going on
another raid because he had had another bad dream. He said that he
had given the same advice to Man Who Can Talk English, but he
would not listen. Man Who Can Talk English's medicine was made
by some other tribe x and if he kept on he would be killed. He said
that Man Who Can Talk English would kill any Indian or white man
he met. Crooked Arm wanted me to buy a medicine from Sees The
Living Bull so that my luck would change and I could become an
accepted pipeholder. He did not make me concerned for my own
safety, but I grew afraid I might have more bad luck and lose more
men. Then all my hopes would be ruined.

I watched Man Who Can Talk English lead his men out of our
village and waited for his return. But they never came back and we
learned later they had all been killed. Our camp moved to the present
site of the Mission of St. Xavier but so many bad things happened
there our chiefs moved us back to the Buffalo Heart Mountain.

I could also have asked Red Bear to make me a medicine. He was
one of our greatest medicine men and could stop the sun, darkening
the earth for several days. 2 But Sees The Living Bull was my friend
Medicine Crow's father, and perhaps he was a greater medicine man
since he had made a medicine for Red Bear. Before I could ask for
his help, however, he would have to adopt me as his son during the
Tobacco Dance.

Some days later I rode to the Mountain Crow camp and found his
tipi. He was at the back and invited me to sit down. When he asked
why I had come I said that I wanted him to adopt me and to make my
medicine. His medicine was stronger than mine, I said, and I needed
better luck on my raids.

He said I was wrong, that it was the Great Above Person who gives
us what we need. I begged him to adopt me, promising a good roan,
a buckskin, and one other horse, all three well-known racers. I also
offered other things, but he refused. He was angry with me for going
against their advice so often. I cried all the way back to the River
Crow camp.

Three moons later I heard that a Tobacco Dance was to be held in
the Mountain Crow camp. Immediately I rode over. On the dance
day I wore my best war shirt and a pair of newly tanned buckskin
128

leggings. To my hair I attached my long false-hair attachment and
around iny neck I hung a silver wampum necklace.

I thought that now Sees The Living Bull would adopt me and
waited for his invitation. The ceremony began and I saw people
gathering but no one came. I waited until the sun had traveled half
through the day and finally I walked into the ceremonial lodge and
joined the dancing. I do not know whether this had ever been done,
but I was trying to follow Crooked Arm's advice. Sees The Living
Bull sat in the dance lodge and talked with Iron Bull, 3 who was asking
for my adoption. But he shook his head and would not look at me.
When I walked up and asked myself he said he had heard a great deal
about me and thought I was a medicine man already. I realized how
foolish I had been not to listen to these men before. Now they dis-
trusted me, I would never become a leader and a chief as I had longed
since childhood.

When the next Tobacco Dance was held I was not invited but
joined in anyway and again asked Sees The Living Bull to adopt me.
Finally he forbade me to enter the dance lodge. Before I could be
adopted I had to be invited four times. Now he would not even allow
me to dance.

One day in his tipi I pleaded that he was our father and we his
children and that if he made me a medicine I would avenge the five
River Crows who had been killed since the last snow. When I re-
turned, I said, the women would dance and the warriors would have
their faces painted black. When I said that if he loved his children
he would help me it was the strongest thing I could say, but he sat like
a stone.

Camp was broken and Sees The Living Bull and some of his people
moved north where they spent some time before returning to the
Arrowhead Mountains. I joined the Mountain Crows there, and al-
though Sees The Living Bull was no relative I followed him every-
where. I had my wife pitch my tipi close to his and did everything to
make him feel kindly towards me, inviting him often to eat with us
and saving the choicest pieces of meat to leave at his tipi. When I
killed a deer I would have my wife tan the hide very softly for his
wife. I also carried firewood and water for her. When the cold winds
blew from the east I hunted for the buffalo with the heaviest fur and
had my wife make robes for his wife. Many moons passed and nothing
happened, but I never left camp except to hunt for him.

Then one morning his wife came to invite me to a meal. I was very

129

excited when I entered their tipi. Sees The Living Bull did not speak
while we were eating. But that did not bother me; older people often
behave that way. After the meal his wife told him that I had been
following them for a long time, selecting choice meats, making robes,
and doing little tasks. She told him that he should give me what I de-
sired so much.

I thought my time had come. I can still see him sitting across from
me, his hair parted in the middle like a woman's and cut short at the
shoulders. But his lips did not move and his expression did not change.

I returned to my tipi and lay on my robes, crying and praying for
the Great Above Person and my sacred helper to soften his heart.

The next morning I was woken by Sees The Living Bull calling me
outside. When I met him he asked me to have a meal with him. Once
again I was hopeful and walked behind him to his tipi. We did not
talk while eating. After we had smoked a pipe he said he had been
testing me for a long time because of the way I had acted before. I
was poor, he said, and he would pity me now because he admired the
way I had been following him; it proved I had learned. He told me to
come to his tipi the following morning with seven straight willows
and one forked one.

The next morning I sat beside him and watched him make a minia-
ture sweat lodge inside his tipi. When he asked how many willows he
had used I said eight. He told me to remember that and also to re-
member that there is a Great Above Person who gives certain things
to us people of the earth. I had gone to war on my own and Sees The
Living Bull had refused to help me, but now he had decided to pity
me. He said we are not great but that the Great Above Person can
make us great. From now on, he said, the Great Above Person would
know what I was doing.

Then Sees The Living Bull placed buffalo grease and charcoal in
front of him. While rubbing the grease over the branches he ex-
plained this meant plenty of food would be given to whoever received
his medicine and that this could happen in camp or on a raid. He
prayed to the Great Above Person to grant me this power, saying that
he was giving me the lodge to build whenever I needed help.

After I powdered the charcoal he rubbed it over the branches and
sharpened their ends. Clearing a space and smoothening it over with
more powered charcoal, he dug a little pit in the middle and dropped
in small live coals. Then he drew a number of bottle-shaped tracks
around the hole with his finger. Each track's opening pointed to where
130

the little lodge's entrance would be. Bending the first willow, he
pushed the sharpened ends into the ground a foot apart, running east
and west. The second willow he placed a little apart but parallel to
the first. Then he bent the five remaining willows across these so that
the lodge frame faced east. Holding some bear root he moved his
hand around the frame from right to left, stopping at the entrance.
He did this three more times before finally laying the root on the coals.

He explained that these were the lodges that softened the heart of
the sun. We sacrificed to the sun, he said, and I should make this cer-
emony whenever necessary. When Sees The Living Bull asked if I
knew how to make the lodges I thought he meant their construction
and how to perform the ceremony. But he also meant the little pat-
terns he had traced on the charcoal floor. I did not ask about them and
never learned their meaning.

For some time I stayed in his tipi, listening to stories of our people.
Before I left he told me to bring twenty-four willow branches the
next morning. I had been hoping he would make my medicine that
day, but was not discouraged by the delay. That evening, as Sees The
Living Bull had suggested, I invited several older men to a sweat bath
for the following day.

I had the twenty-four willows cut early the next morning and
helped Sees The Living Bull build a regular-sized sweat lodge. I was
to be the door raiser and Sees The Living Bull told me I would prob-
ably be given certain dreams.

After the lodge was made we sat and waited for our guests. Sees
The Living Bull's dream forbade him to enter a sweat lodge. Soon our
guests arrived and prepared themselves.

When Neck Bone walked up I pretended three times to raise the
door flap. The fourth time I really held it aside. As he stooped to enter
he told me he had seen a vision of horses. He called me his child and
gave me those horses.

Then Small Face went in and said he had dreamt of the new grass
coming up. Calling me his child, he wished I would live until then.

When I raised the flap for Burns Himself he also called me his child
and said that his vision of a successful war party was now mine.

The fourth man called me his child and said his vision had shown
him several scalps and that in the coming seasons he hoped I would
take them.

Other guests came after these men had entered, but a person can
only receive four visions at a time so they sat down without speaking.

131

After the sweat bath I gave everyone a meal. When they were gone
Sees The Living Bull said that these fathers of mine had made wishes
for me as they had entered and had offered prayers for my success in-
side. He wanted me to go home and return early in the grass-growing
season. Then he would do something for me. Although I was disap-
pointed not to have received a medicine I knew he would stop every-
thing if I tried to interfere,

On my way back to the River Crows I remembered Neck Bone's
vision. Before I went back the next grass-growing season I decided
to go on one more raid. A little later I joined some men to Dirt
Creek, returning with a few enemy horses. But they were strays and
I did not think much of our trip. When I got back I received word
from Sees The Living Bull that he did not want me to leave anymore
without his consent.

Piegan had joined me on this trip. When I told him that although I
had been shown many things I had not yet received a medicine he
said that Sees The Living Bull owned a very powerful rock medicine.
Its large rock had a smaller rock child in the same bundle. He sug-
gested I ask for that because it would give me much good luck.

132

Chaffer Twenty-Three

Two Leggings had good reason -for wanting to accompany

well-known pipeh older s like Hunts The Enemy. The

chances for success and survival were greater when one was

protected by proven dreams.

Like Two Leggings., Hunts The Enemy was born a

River Crow and a member of the Not Mixed clan. However,

he had been able to secure his own medicine

without outside assistance. This, and his membership in

the rival warrior society, may account for part of

their mutual antipathy. During his lifetime Hunts The Enemy

led thirty successful raids in which he cut a tethered

horse, took three guns one from a Pend d'Orielle chief when

the latter' s firearm was pressed against his mouth and cut eight

Piegan scalps. He died in 2907.

Twice, Two Leggings joined war parties led by Half

Yellow Face, another -famous pipeholder who

gained renown as one of six who scouted for Son Of The

Morning Star Custefs Crow name just before the massacre.

Along with all the Ankara scouts, he and White

Swan were assigned by mistake to the Little Soldier Chief

Reno's Crow name. At first it was thought

they had also been killed, but during the butchering of Reno's

forces they hid in a cave for two days and nights.

TIME PASSED SLOWLY "while I waited for grass-growing season and my
visit to Sees The Living Bull. During the days I hunted and in the
evenings I listened to the old men's stories.

But when I heard that Hunts The Enemy was leading a raid to the

133

Piegans I could remain In camp no longer. In his two years as a pipe-
holder he had always been successful. Although younger warriors
were always anxious to join him he never took more than ten men.
Sees The Living Bull had told me to stay home but I wanted to ask
him to let me go just this once. Riding over to his camp I noticed snow
clouds moving fast across the sky.

Sees The Living Bull listened and when I finished he looked straight
ahead for a long time. Then he put his pipe down and said he still
thought it would be better if I stayed at home. But he knew how I felt
and if I really wanted to go he said I must leave my pipe and medicine
and join as a helper. I was very happy.

Snow was falling as I rode back. In camp a friend told me that
Piegans had raided our horses and that Hunts The Enemy was going
to recover those and steal some more.

Hunts The Enemy always hid somewhere so the younger warriors
would not bother him, but I asked Bull Eye, his brother, to speak for
me, telling him that my medicine father had allowed me to go as a
helper. Bull Eye promised to try and I waited in my dpi for the an-
swer. After dark, as my wife and I were finishing our meal, Bull Eye
came in and I offered him the pipe. He sat down and we smoked in
silence. Then he emptied the ashes and said that Hunts The Enemy
had remembered my bravery on other raids and wanted me to prepare
myself and come to his tipi. There he would open the powerful medi-
cine of Braided Tail and wanted all his men present. After that we
were to meet on Porcupine Hill before sunrise.

I was glad and thanked Bull Eye. When he was gone my wife put
her arms around my neck and cried for me not to go. I asked if she
wanted a coward for a husband. She said I had shown my courage
many times and that if camp were attacked I could prove myself. I
told her that if I stayed I would get fat and lazy like Wolf Tail and
Bear Grease. Once they had been warriors but now they were women.
Their wives had wanted them at home and now they did not have
enough winter clothes and would not even hunt. But she put her arms
around me again and spoke about a bad dream. I told her to stop talk-
ing since her dreams were only women's dreams. I asked what would
Hunts The Enemy think if I sent word I could not go because my
wife wanted me home. I told her to hurry and gather my moccasins
because we were leaving soon after the ceremony.

She was unhappy but quiet. While I prepared my weapons she
collected several pairs of moccasins, strips of sinew, and awl, and some
pemmican. After wrapping everything in a bundle to pick up later I
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picketed a horse for the trip one of the best runners I ever owned.
Then I joined Hunts The Enemy who had returned to his brother's
tipi.

When I walked in I saw Hunts The Enemy, Bull Eye, Ten Bear,
Head, Plenty Bear, Willow Top, Little Heart, Never Dies, and a boy
whose name I have forgotten. Never Dies was the bundle's owner and
sat at the back with two unopened medicine bundles before him.

They passed the pipe and we smoked in silence. When it came to
Never Dies again he emptied the ashes and laid it beside the bundle.
Calling Hunts The Enemy his brother, he said that he had been in-
vited to bring this powerful medicine to aid Hunts The Enemy on his
coming raid. He said it was good that Hunts The Enemy had done
this and that he had brought two medicine bundles so Hunts The
Enemy could have his choice. One was the powerful arrow medicine
which he had received from his father, the other the powerful skull
medicine of his father's father's father who was Braided Tail. 1

Hunts The Enemy chose the skull medicine and Never Dies
wrapped the arrow medicine in a blanket and laid it aside. Then he
smoothed the earth floor, and asked for coals, which were quickly
brought by Hunts The Enemy's wife. As he scattered a small handful
of bear root on them, sweet smoke filled the tipi.

He purified his hands and face in the smoke, held the skull bundle
in it, and began unwrapping the deerskin coverings. As we watched he
prayed and sang four medicine songs belonging to the bundle.

Finally the skull was uncovered on a wrapping of soft buffalo calf-
skin. Hundreds of presents, given to the bundle by the many people
who had consulted it, were tied to this inner wrapping. The skull and
wrappings were smeared with red paint. Red feathers and eagle plumes
were also inside.

Never Dies laid seven red feathers in front of the skull and asked
someone to fill and light his pipe. After smoking in silence he pointed
the stem at the skull and asked the Great Above Person to guide us
and warn us in case of danger.

He told Hunts The Enemy that this bundle was too heavy so he
would give him the seven feathers which carried the same powers.
The day before, he said, he had made a smudge and sung a song. Un-
der the skull he had seen that Hunts The Enemy would return with
many horses and that two enemies would be killed. He told Hunts
The Enemy that when he saw the enemy he must fasten these seven
feathers to his hair and pray to them.

Then Never Dies sang a medicine song and we all joined in until we

135

knew it. Another pipe was passed around and when its ashes were
emptied Never Dies wrapped up his bundle. Before we left everyone
gave Never Dies a gift and Hunts The Enemy presented him with
one of his best horses.

I did not want to be late and told my wife good-bye long before
dawn. She did not speak but there were tears in her eyes. After every-
one had gathered at Porcupine Hill we headed north toward the
Musselshell River.

That first night we camped at the head of Yellow Willow Creek.
Then we rode to Trout Creek where we found another Crow camp.
Crooked Arm was its chief and he asked if I was carrying Sees The
Living Bull's pipe. When I explained that I was going as a helper he
said I should have stayed home but to do my best.

We left the boy behind because his horse went lame, and we began
to ride toward the northwest. For the next two days we all rode to-
gether, but as we neared Piegan country Plenty Bear and I were sent
to scout. Early each morning we had to gallop long distances ahead of
the others. The country was rugged and our work very tiring. When
we approached a high hill Plenty Bear would gallop around to scout
the southern side while I covered the northern side. We were ap-
proaching the Great Falls of Big River and expected Piegans at any
time.

I felt like a coward. I was acting as a helper only because I had left
my medicine at home, but the men treated me like a child, ordering
me to carry their wood and build their fires. When Hunts The Enemy
told me I had been wrong to leave my medicine I said I was following
an important medicine man's advice. But I lacked protection and wor-
ried all the time that I might do something wrong and get killed. Then
I would think how fast the days went by, while in camp time would
have passed so slowly, and I would forget my fears.

For the last two days snow had fallen hard and riding was difficult.
Plenty Bear and I were waiting for the men to meet us at a site we had
chosen for the night. When they arrived we began building shelters
against the wind and snow. While we were collecting brush, Hunts
The Enemy asked me to kill a buffalo from a small herd we had spotted
in a nearby valley.

This made me angry. First he had appointed me his scout and now
he wanted me as his hunter. I had brought my horse to chase enemies,
I said. If he wanted me to kill buffalo he should give me another horse.
I told him that he had plenty of men who had not had to ride as hard
as I. One of them could do his hunting.

Without answering me he sent someone else. But about the middle
of the next day, when they had joined us again, he asked me to kill a
buffalo. When I refused once more he said they could not fight if they
were starving. He pointed out a hilltop and told me to scout the coun-
try from there until they brought me something to eat. Before I rode
out I asked Little Heart to cut some meat with plenty of fat to bring to
me later.

The sun had fallen halfway toward the west when I reached the
hill. Nothing was in sight so I sat down to wait. When they arrived
it was still a while before sunset but I was very hungry.

Once again Hunts The Enemy asked me to kill one of the many
buffalo in the lower valleys. After I refused he told me to stay at an-
other hill all night so I could scout at sunrise.

While we were sitting and talking Little Heart had walked my horse
around. When I mounted up I noticed meat tied to the saddle. On my
ride I ate buffalo roast and was glad Hunts The Enemy could not en-
joy his little revenge.

The sun was almost down when I reached the hill. Nothing was in
sight to the west. Looking back I saw that our men had killed another
buffalo and were making camp along a little stream hidden by cotton-
wood trees. When it was dark I rode into the valley, picketed my
horse, and slowly walked to camp until I saw my friends sitting around
their fire. Someone stood up and I recognized Little Heart by his
walk. After I whispered for more meat he waited until the others were
asleep and brought me a large loin piece. I returned to my hilltop and
slept until daylight. Then I signalled to Hunts The Enemy with my
blanket that I would scout the country ahead and he signalled back to
go on. I rode until I was far enough away to make a cooking fire.

After tying the leftover cooked meat to my saddle I rode slowly
until I located a well-hidden place. It was still early in the day when
they arrived. Hunts The Enemy approved of the site and we built
shelters. Again he wanted me to hunt and again I refused, saying I had
not eaten for two days. Although I offered to go if he gave me food,
he sent Little Heart who quickly returned with a two-year-old cow.
Hunts The Enemy was in the trees when Little Heart rode in and I
tied some choice parts to my saddle. Then I led my horse a little dis-
tance from camp. As soon as Hunts The Enemy came back he pointed
out another hill where I was to stand guard until nightfall.

When I was out of sight I gathered dry snake brush and roasted my
meat, leaving what was left in the hot coals to pick up on my return.

For the remainder of the day I watched from that hilltop but saw

137

nothing. It had snowed about two days, then it had cleared and grown
warm, but now I saw clouds gathering in the west and moving east-
ward. By the time I rode back it was raining. On my way I stopped
to take my meat out of the coals. When I reached camp it was pouring
down. The other men had hobbled their horses but I tied mine to a
tree and joined them in a brush shelter.

The next morning I was awakened by shouting. I thought the Pieg-
ans were upon us and grabbed my gun. Dawn was just breaking and
it was still raining. As I ran into the fog I saw Ten Bear untying my
horse, Hunts The Enemy and the others around him. Their hobbled
horses had run off during the storm. I told them that they had known
about the storm. If the Piegans attacked I wanted my horse fresh. I told
him to send men on foot to find their horses.

While two men left we waited in our shelter. From the way they
ran back into camp we could tell something was wrong. Ten Bear said
they had followed the horse tracks along the river but when the fog
had lifted a large Piegan camp appeared around a bend. Our horses had
joined their herd. When the Piegans noticed those hobbled horses they
would start a search. He said we would have to kill as many as possible
before we died.

I told Hunts The Enemy that I had not lent him my horse because
he had not treated me right. But I said now I could save hiiiL When
the Piegans came I would pretend to escape in one direction while they
got away in another.

He thanked me and after we arranged a meeting place they left im-
mediately. Then I rode to see if the Piegans had discovered our horses.

About the middle of the day I noticed excitement around their
camp, men saddling horses and people running everywhere. About
twenty Piegan warriors began riding along the river and more were
trying to catch up with them.

Hunts The Enemy had a good start and he was good at covering
trails. I also knew my own horse. Riding as if I were trying to keep out
of their sight, I soon heard a cry. The Piegans left the trees along the
river and raced for me.

I pretended to signal to men ahead and occasionally turned to shoot,
but my arrows always fell short. They were singing war songs. As
they came almost within bowshot I would top a ridge and whip my
horse. When they appeared I was out of range again. Then I would
ride slowly up the next ridge to rest my horse. But they were so eager
they raced up and down and wore theirs out.

One Piegan, riding a good horse, was far ahead of his friends. I could
outrun him but decided to trick him. We were galloping through
coulees and over hills, keeping an even distance between us. But he
kept pulling away from his men. Then I entered the course of a dry
creek. After passing many half bends I noticed a rocky point that made
the bed turn sharply. Reining in on the other side, I tied my horse to a
tree and crouched behind some bushes. As I strung my bow and pulled
an arrow back I could hear his horse running on the dry stones.

His eyes were searching for me as he came around. I hit him lower
than I intended, my arrow going through his groin and pinning him
to his horse, which screamed and fell. I ran down with my knife and he
shouted something I did not understand. He tried to grab my arm as
I stuck my knife into his stomach. While I was cutting his scalp I
heard the other Piegans and had no time to pick up his weapons. Run-
ning to my horse I sang a victory song and waved the scalp so they
could see. The rest had done my horse good and it jumped up the
coulee rim. By the time they discovered the body I was safely away,
but still in sight. As I waved the scalp and sang, they shook their weap-
ons and a few started after me.

Then I decided to take no more chances. About sunset I lost sight
of them in the distance. Long after dark I allowed my horse a little
grass and water. After riding another day and another night I finally
made a large half circle to our meeting place. Three days later, when
I arrived, no one was there. I built a shelter, killed a fat buffalo, and
waited. When they showed up two days later Hunts The Enemy
treated me differently and gave me credit for the escape. I had to tell
many times how I had killed the Piegan. They cut up the scalp, each
man tied his piece to a long willow pole, and we danced the scalp
dance around the fire.

Then we talked over what to do. Some wanted to go home but
Hunts The Enemy knew that I, his helper, would get the honors while
he would be laughed at. He decided to return for our horses and
to kill some Piegans.

Mine was the only horse so I scouted again. We traveled carefully
because the Piegans might still be out. During the night we walked
along the river bottoms, sheltered by the big cottonwoods along the
banks. In the daytime we hid. Finally, at dawn many days later, we
arrived at the big bend in the river and hid in some willows in a coulee.
Their tipis seemed to have moved across the river. Then we noticed
we were between two camps, one on either side of the big bend. All

139

day long people walked between them, using the path on their side
of the river.

Night came and no one had seen us. Walking from my hiding place I
thought of the older men's advice not to go out before the right time.
I made a vow that if I was not killed tonight I would do as they said.

While we were eating dried pemmican Hunts The Enemy told us
that since we were so few we would all enter the camp. Just as we
were about to swim across he said my horse would make too much
noise; he wanted me to cross above the camp and wait. Although I
also wanted to capture horses he would not listen. They crossed with
poles under their arms to avoid making noise. When I was far enough
away I crossed on my horse and sat down to wait.

Soon I saw many horses coming toward me. But when Hunts The
Enemy divided them up he did not give me one. They had passed an-
other herd which they were returning for. When I asked Hunts The
Enemy to let me come he answered that I had no medicine and was
only a helper.

I said my medicine must have been with me when I drew the Piegans
away and killed that man, but he ignored me. He took three men and
they returned with more horses. When I asked for some he promised
me two the next day. We quietly walked them away, but once out of
hearing galloped them hard. As we were driving them home I grew an-
gry and could not stop thinking that I was bringing no horses for my
relatives. Finally I turned out of the group and rode back to the Piegan
camp.

I would pull up to listen whether they had discovered our raid, but
heard nothing until I approached their camp. Then dogs began bark-
ing and I grew afraid. Dismounting, I prayed to the Great Above Per-
son that I was poor and wanted horses. I said that I hoped to be a
leader again and asked him to prevent the Piegans from hearing or
seeing me. Even though I was not carrying my medicine, I sang my
medicine song: "I want something good."

The barking dogs did not seem to bother the Piegans. The night
was clear and the stars very bright. After telling myself that my songs
and prayers would help to bring me safely home I felt better. As I
moved forward I saw dark shapes ahead. Horses were staring at me.
Making sure they were unguarded, I rode slowly up, tied my belt to
my horse, and led it into the Piegan herd. I noticed a big sorrel pinto
mare and tied my rope around its mouth. Then I mounted it and turned
140

my own horse into the herd. First I quietly walked them out and soon
was far enough away to trot them. A little later I drove them into a
hard gallop. Clouds began to cover the stars and I felt snow flurries in
my face. Now I was not ashamed to be heading home.

All through the night I kept them going fast and by morning I was
far away, our tracks covered with snow. But I still did not head
straight back; the Piegans would probably send men that way. Then
the snow stopped, the sky cleared, and the sun was shining. I rode
one horse until it played out, then turned it in with the rest and chose
another. For the rest of that day and through that night I rode like
that. Two horses were unable to keep up and I left them. I rode
through the following day and at sunset, when I dismounted to look
through my telescope, Hunts The Enemy and his men were ahead
of me, driving their herd before them. But when I caught up I
passed apart.

Little Heart rode over and said a roan in my bunch belonged to his
grandfather and if I returned it he would give rne ten good things.
I told him that two days before they had treated me like a stranger,
I had gone back alone and now they were strangers to me.

Little Heart called out my name and asked if I loved my children.
He promised to give me ten tanned buffalo robes with the heads left
on for the horses. Then I had to give in because when someone asks
if you love your children or your brother's children it is a sacred
expression.

The others had joined us and I told Hunts The Enemy to take the
gray mare. Then everyone wanted a horse but I gave away no more.

Little Heart thought it would not look right if we returned sep-
arately. After some talking I put my horses with their bunch and
joined them. If I had reached camp first I would have been con-
sidered the pipeholder.

We did not stop that night nor the next night. For three days we
had not eaten and were very hungry. When we finally discovered
buffalo I told Hunts The Enemy that before I was going to be a pipe-
holder and they had talked me out of it. Now, I said, I would be their
helper and kill their meat.

Running close to one small herd, I picked out a fat cow and shot it.
I cut out both rib pieces and started a fire. The men ate and I roasted
some extra meat to pack with us. When we mounted the sun was
down. After riding all night we ate again at dawn, rested a little, and

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reached the prairie country about the middle of the day. Then we
traveled a little easier and at dusk stopped to sleep above Crooked
Arm's camp on Yellow Willow Creek.

As the sun was rising we drove our stolen horses into the camp,
shooting our rifles into the air and singing: "We are here. We went
by there. The last one was better than the first."

Everyone greeted us with singing. That night a great victory cele-
bration was held and we all dressed in our finest clothes. Then we had
a scalp dance for the man I had killed. My name was mentioned in
the songs, but Hunts The Enemy received most of the praise.

My brother was staying there and I gave him ten horses. He kept
some and gave the rest to his friends. My own tipi was in Two Belly's
camp on the Bighorn River, and after a few days' rest I returned there
and gave a good black horse to Sees The Living Bull, leaving about
ten for my own herd.

After I had told my medicine father everything he called me his
son and told me not to pretend to be a helper or a boy if I wanted
to become a chief. He said that everyone would hear Hunts The
Enemy's name even though I had done braver things.

This was true, and I had already made that vow. Besides, green-
grass season was not far off. I waited in camp for the time when I
hoped Sees The Living Bull would give me his most powerful medi-
cine.

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Chapter Twenty-Four

During the winter Sees The Living Bull had devoted four

consecutive nights to introducing Two Leggings and his 'wife

to the members of his Tobacco society chapter.

Months later, on the morning after the tobacco planting, an

adoption lodge was erected of ten large pine trunks in tipi shape.

Within a preparatory lodge Sees The Living Bull painted

and dressed Two Leggings; his wife did the same for Two

Leggings 7 'wife. Separated from them by a line of sacred tobacco

seed bags, a dozen drummers 'were beating to imitate the

thunder. Other society members jammed into the remaining area.

The painting completed, the women began to shuffle out

in single file. Sees The Living Bull and his 'wife brought up

the rear, escorting Two Leggings and his 'wife. The procession

moved slowly, stopping four times while the participants danced

in place. After all were sitting within the adoption lodge,

a famous warrior ran out and shortly returned with water,

representing the report of a returning war party. Then relays

of dancers began to perform. At a noon intermission Two

Leggings 3 fellow Lumpwoods piled up the initiation fee of

blankets and war shirts. Since Two Leggings had joined to obtain

Sees The Living Bull's medicine, he did not exercise his right

to any of the other members* medicines. Later that afternoon,

when the dancing was over, the drummers raised their sticks,

everyone else little willow sprigs, to encourage the growth

of the sacred tobacco.

THE MELTING SNOW CAME, followed by the grass-growing season.
My wife and I packed our belongings and traveled to the Mountain

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Crows where Sees The Living Bull had moved. After waiting one
day I picketed my white horse, loaded with presents, by my tipi door.
Then I invited my medicine father for a smoke. When he came I told
him that the presents and horse were his. I asked him to adopt me
during a Tobacco Dance which I had heard would be held in three
days. Calling him father, I said that although he had showed me many
things I still had not received what I wanted most. I asked him to give
me or make me one of his medicines so I could bring back more horses
and scalps.

For a long time he would not answer. Finally he said that if I had
patience he would give me a pipe so I could be a pipeholder. He re-
minded me that he was not medicine himself, that it was the Great
Above Person who gave all medicines. But he promised to give me
some of the Great Above Person's medicine and to teach me many
things. In seven days there would be a full moon. I was to visit him
then and he would build a sweat lodge and do something for me.

The next morning the Mountain Crows broke carnp and went down
Elk River to meet the River Crows for the planting of the tobacco.
On the way Sees The Living Bull and I struck camp with them in
the mountains. We traveled no farther because the River Crows
joined us there. During the celebration of the tobacco planting Sees
The Living Bull adopted me, I was very happy. Now he could not
refuse me.

On the sixth day I brought Sees The Living Bull a beautiful Hudson
Bay blanket, a buckskin shirt, leggings, moccasins, and a buckskin-
colored horse. I was poor, I said, and asked him to have pity on me.
1 promised him everything I owned if only he would give me his
powerful medicine.

He answered that since I wanted this so badly he would give me
all he had. The following morning I was to cut one hundred and four
willows and he would teach me how to make a sweat lodge. Then I
was to bring twenty-four more for a separate sweat lodge. He also
wanted seven stones, a long cottonwood pole, seven buffalo chips,
red paint, charcoal, sweet grass, bear root, and a red blanket. He told
me to begin the sweat lodge by digging a hole elbow-deep for the
hot stones. Then I was to plant the first willow in the ground one full
step from this hole and continue the other hundred and three in a
circle around the hole. Finally he told me its location.

By dawn I had cut all the willows and had collected the other things
at the lodge site. I dug the center hole and piled dirt around the edge
144

so It looked like a prairie-dog mound. With my fingers I traced little
trails in the pile to represent prairie-dog paths and covered them with
powdered charcoal which meant success in war. Sees The Living
Bull arrived in time to help me plant the willows in the ground. Then
I intertwined their branches to form the roof frame and left a door
space facing east. We covered the entire frame with buffalo hides,
the last being a large robe with the head on, which faced the east.
Finally I dug a hole west of the lodge for the long cottonwood pole.

Sees The Living Bull had me invite seven medicine men to assist
in the ceremony: Little Face, Burns Himself, Face Turned Round,
Bird Has A Shirt, Tobacco, Neck Bone, and Little Belt, because they
had dreamt many dreams. After I had visited their tipis they walked
up to our sweat lodge. Neck Bone was just about to enter when Cuts
The Turnip arrived and told Sees The Living Bull that if he loved
his children he would let him enter this sweat lodge.

Sees The Living Bull gave his consent but told me later that he had
invited seven men because the number represented the dipper, one of
his medicines. He had hoped that while they were inside he would
receive a vision. By spoiling that number Cuts The Turnip had dis-
turbed his medicine spirit. Cut The Turnip should have known better
but Sees The Living Bull could not turn him away.

As I raised the door a fourth time for Neck Bone he called me his
child and said that he had seen a snow-covered ground showing many
tracks. He hoped I would live until then and bring home many horses.

When I raised the door for Burns Himself he called me his child
and said he had seen the leaves turn yellow and hoped I would live
until then.

Then Face Turned Round said he had seen a returning war party
driving four captured horses. One was a fine bay and he wished me
to have it before the leaf-turning season.

Bird Has A Shirt was last and his dream showed a war party return-
ing from the Sioux country. Leading it was a fine warrior carrying
a scalp from the end of a long pole. This man was singing and rode
a beautiful captured roan horse. Bird Has A Shirt called me his son
and hoped I would be that warrior.

. The other three men and Cuts The Turnip entered without a word.
During their sweat bath Sees The Living Bull and I waited outside.
After a while I filled a pipe and passed it in. As each man smoked he
pointed the stem to the sky and then to the ground, asking the Great
Above Person to give me success on the warpath, plenty of game,

H5

good health, and a long life. When they came out some younger men
took baths in the same lodge.

I had already given Sees The Living Bull the red blanket. Now he
spread it on the ground and with charcoal painted a black circle in
the middle and a disc above that, representing the sun and moon.
Holding the blanket up to the sun he told the White Man Above In
The Sky, the moon, and all the stars that I was giving them this red
blanket. Again he called to the sun, his father, and said that he was
giving me this sweat lodge and asked him to help me if I needed any-
thing.

After his prayers he had it announced in camp that he wished to see
all the children. When they arrived each child rubbed himself with
the blanket. Then it was tied to the top of the pole I had planted on
the west side of the lodge. Sees The Living Bull told the sun that now
the blanket belonged to him.

Sees The Living Bull invited me to his tipi early the next morning
to receive a medicine he would make. The other sweat lodge of
twenty-four willows which I had built close to the larger one was
left for the following day.

In the morning some medicine men were already in his tipi: Two
Belly, Crazy Wolf, Sees Under, Crooked Arm, Scar On The Mouth,
Face Turned Round, Burns Himself, Hesitates, and Neck Bone.

When I sat down Sees The Living Bull began to tell us about his
own medicine dream and his first raid. This was his story.

I fasted in the same place four times, staying four days each time.
But it was not until the last of these fasts that I met my medicine
father. Early the fifth morning a person rose above the horizon until
I saw his entire body. As he walked toward me, fires burst out where
he stepped. At last he stood next to me and delivered the message
that Bird Going Up was coming to me.

He was wearing strange moccasins, the left upper made from a
silver fox's head, the right from a coyote's head. The ears had been
left and scalp locks were tied around the moccasins' edges. The right
heel was painted black and the left red. The man wore a beautiful war
shirt trimmed with scalp locks along the arms, and his leggings were
decorated with horsehair scalp locks from the manes of different-
colored horses.

A little rain woke me and my dream became a real vision. My dream
146

person was standing next to me when I heard the little coyote head
on his moccasin howling. When the fox on the other moccasin barked,
flames blew from its mouth. 1 kept trying to see if this man's face was
painted but it was hidden. He carried a coup stick with a raven sitting
on it. This raven tried to teach me the language of the birds but the
man stopped it. Suddenly I heard a loud thunderclap. I seemed to be
picked up and dropped while my blanket was thrown in the opposite
direction. Landing unhurt on the mountain slope with my head down-
hill, I saw a bird's big tail and large claws, but could not see the body.
Red streaks of lightning shot from each claw, leaving trails on the
rocks. I noticed hailstones on the bird's spread-out tail. As the rain
turned into fog I tried to see the bird's head but lightning flashes
crossed in front of it. My dream person told me that this bird was
great, that the noise from its throat sounded like thunder. The
raven on the coup stick said that I was to have had many visions but
that the messenger prevented him from giving them. It meant my
dream person, the real messenger from Bird Going Up who was
giving me all these visions. Then the raven disappeared and I looked
again at my dream person. A large red circle was painted on his face,
broken by two other circles scratched into the red paint. The raven
returned to its perch on the coup stick and my dream person told
me that Bird Going Up had told him not to let the raven teach me the
language of the birds. Instead, he said, he would teach me some of his
medicine songs and sang the first one: "The bird is saying this: Wher-
ever we are, nothing may be in our way."

After each song he blew several times on an eagle-bone whistle.
The second song was: "The bird is gone. I will let him return and
watch over you."

The third song went: "I am letting him stay. I am letting him stay."

He sang the fourth song: "I am going toward human beings and
they are weak."

His fifth song was: "The bird from the sky will take care of you."

He sang his sixth song: "Wherever I am going, I say this: I am the
Bird of the world."

His last song went: "My child, I am living among the clouds and
there is nothing impossible for me."

When my dream man finished the seven songs he pointed east, say-
ing that people there would make me suffer. Whatever direction I
looked he said he could tell me what was there.

Pointing west he asked if I saw a burning mountain. I saw it but did

H7

not understand Its meaning. My dream person told me never to go
to the Flathead or Shoshoni country.

A strong wind came up and I watched my blanket blow away.
When I turned back my dream man was gone. I was wide awake and
the sun was already high in the sky. As I started home my feet were
very sore and I felt weak. More than two days later I came upon
White Mouth near the village. He said many people thought I had
been killed by a bear and were mourning my death. He was my rela-
tive and as we walked back together asked why I tortured myself so
much. He said I knew I would not live forever. There were many
like myself who were poor and had large families, but he said they did
not torture themselves. He kept talking that way but I made no an-
swer. The hunters had just returned with fresh meat and he told me
to eat some in my grandmother's tipi.

The news spread that I was back and many came to visit. After
talking to them I greased the soles of my feet and slept. The follow-
ing morning White Mouth invited me to eat in his tipi. After our
meal he told me again not to starve or torture myself. Still I did not
answer. He agreed to pass on my request that everyone bring a
willow branch until I had forty-four and that they should also collect
firewood. He went outside and soon I could hear the camp crier
speaking to the people. When I had the willows and firewood I was
asked if I had any further instructions. I told the people to build four
sweat lodges in a row with openings to the east and west. In front of
the first lodge they were to pile firewood because we would take our
bath there. I had them plant a long pole near that lodge's eastern
opening.

Everyone helped me build those sweat lodges. When they were
made I told the people to follow me and led the men, women, and
children into the eastern opening of the first lodge and out the west-
ern opening. As I led them through the second, third, and fourth
lodges the people laid presents on the sweat lodge frames and also
tied a piece of cloth and other presents to the long pole. Coming out
of the fourth lodge I turned right, walked back to the eastern entrance
of the first lodge, and announced for anyone wanting a sweat bath
to prepare himself,

Has A Red Feather On The Side Of His Head, 1 our chief, told me
that he had been watching over our people for many years and now
was growing old. He said he had seen these lodges and believed I had
received a powerful vision. I did not tell him what I had seen. He
148

hoped that sometime I would be able to look after our people but
advised me to marry and make a home for myself.

I still did not reply but thought I should do as he said. A few days
later we broke camp and moved down Powder River where we
pitched our tipis again. There I heard that Not Dangerous was going
on a raid and decided to try out my medicine. It was the moon when
the leaves turn yellow and I had seen my vision in the moon when
the chokecherries ripen. Not Dangerous asked if I had made my medi-
cine bundle and I told him no. But I also told him that before my last
fast I had dreamt of a gray horse near Red River (in the Black Hills
country) and the time had been when the leaves turn yellow.

He had seen me build the four sweat lodges and make the ceremony
for the whole camp to share. He had faith in my medicine and said that
we would travel toward the horse in my dream.

He appointed me chief scout. After traveling for several days I had
a dream. Before sunrise the next morning I told the five other scouts
that we would bring good news to our leader. By the time the sun
was a man's height above the horizon we had discovered some Sioux
chasing buffalo in a valley. We knew they could not move before
their animals had been skinned so we raced back to Not Dangerous.
He was so pleased he offered me his title as pipeholder, but I could
not accept. While we waited for the sun to rise higher our men pre-
pared their medicines and sang their medicine songs. I was the only
one without medicine and just carried a buffalo-hide rope. When Not
Dangerous asked what I was going to do with it I answered that I was
going to capture many horses. His expression showed he thought I
was a powerful man. Everyone was ready but we traveled slowly and
did not reach the hilltop until after sunset. In the distance we could
see their fires.

Saying I was looking for my horse, I began to follow a coulee not
far from their camp, keeping in the shadows. Around a bend I saw a
dark shape and thought first it was a guard. But it was a horse and I
tied my rope around its mouth.

As I led it up the coulee I discovered another horse which I mounted,
leading the gray closer to the Sioux camp. Soon I came upon a large
bunch, grazing quietly and unguarded. Riding around until I was
between them and the campfires I began to walk them out. When I
was far enough away I drove them into a run. As I met our men I told
Not Dangerous to divide the bunch up, but that I would keep the
gray.

149

We left immediately and arrived safely in our village above the
present Crow Agency.

Everyone believed I had some great medicine. But in dreams later
on I was given an even greater medicine. It is the rock with many
faces which my wife found and which has given me powerful visions. 2

Sees The Living Bull then taught me those seven songs and I never
forgot them. When he finished he said he wanted me to take his horse
and ride east until I had reached the top of Bushy Pine Hill. If I did
not find a dead eagle there I should turn right and ride to the top of
Red Top Hill south of camp. If I found nothing there I was to ride
to West Hill west of camp. If I still had no luck I should ride north
to Cherry Hill. If my entire search was unsuccessful he said I would
not become a pipeholder or a medicine man.

It was a beautiful day. When I reached the top of Bushy Pine Hill
I looked into the valley with our tipis and lines of smoke rising to the
sky. Soon I would do things to make me a great warrior and a chief.
My medicine father had also said that I might become a medicine
man. I made a prayer for success to the Great Above Person and to
the sun. Somehow I never thought I might fail. Galloping down the
slope I rode through a little stream and into the valley. As I searched
the ground for the eagle I saw six men sitting and smoking on the
side of West Hill, Yellow Crane, Three Wolves, Shot In The Hand,
Nursing, Chicken Hawk Cap, and Bucket Leg. I rode up and noticed
a spotted eagle dead on the ground and immediately told them that
I had come for it. When Three Wolves asked if I had left it there I
explained that Sees The Living Bull was going to make me a medicine
and had sent me for an eagle. I asked if they had shot it or touched it,
but they had just arrived. When they allowed me to take whatever
part I needed I was very happy. I dismounted, pulled out the two
middle feathers of the tail, and rode to my medicine father's tipi.

When I handed them to him he said he had expected the whole
bird. I described the six men sitting nearby and said that I was glad
they let me have a part.

Sees The Living Bull said he would make a great medicine that
would permit me to go out as a war leader. He told me to walk around
camp and bring him a raven, or a small red fox, or a coyote. He gave
me my choice, saying that a raven medicine would mean any bird
could tell me where to find the enemy. A red fox medicine would not

be very powerful but would give me that animal's cunning. A coyote
medicine would bark and bite, and those noises would become a hu-
man voice leading me to horses. But if I wanted to be a powerful chief
he advised me to take the eagle-tail medicine.

Another man asked Sees The Living Bull what medicine he had
made for Red Bear and he answered an eagle medicine. They all agreed
I had been going on raids without much luck and that if I continued
without a proper medicine I might lose some men. If I took this eagle-
tail medicine which my medicine father was willing to make, they
would feel I was going to be successful.

Sees The Living Bull asked if I wanted a red circle on my face or
a half circle painted over my forehead with the ends reaching from
jawbone to jawbone. He also asked if I wanted my eyelids and lips
painted red. When I narrowed my eyes the red lids would mean light-
ning, the power to see the enemy before they saw me. The red lips
meant that my medicine songs would be more powerful. I wanted the
red circle for the sun and also the red eyelids and red lips.

Then Sees The Living Bull lit a sweet-grass smudge and purified
his hands and face. After painting them he reached for his medicine
and opened it. On one side of the rock was a human head and under
it a buffalo head. On the other side were the heads of an eagle and
a horse. When it was completely opened he told me that he was my
father but that this rock was my grandfather to whom I should pray.

When I finished praying he took a small rock from the bundle and
said it was the large rock's child. He picked up a small tobacco medi-
cine bag and told his wife to tie a small buckskin wrapper around the
rock child. After tying it to the medicine bag he placed the bag on
different-colored pieces of cloth which he said were the clouds. He
sewed a weasel skin and a horse tail to the eagle tail and laid this before
him together with an eagle claw.

Sees The Living Bull said that I thought I was now a chief but I was
not. However, he said he would give me something to make me a chief.
When he had finished he said I could go anywhere and not be afraid.

Laying each medicine down, he sang the song belonging to it. Then
he painted a red circle on his face and a red streak on his eyelids
and lips. He said if I chose the eagle medicine I must paint a red streak
over my eyes. For the rock medicine I was to paint my mouth red
and for the tobacco medicine I must paint a red circle on my face.
The streak over my eyes meant I could always see the enemy; the
red over my mouth, good luck and plenty to eat. The red circle on my

151

face was the red clouds. If I saw a ring around the sun or moon or
stars I should paint myself like that because it represented all three.
The paint had been given to him by the star which always stands
close to the moon. After I had my medicine, he said, I would never
fear bad dreams. I could go my way and bring back horses and give
him his share.

He wrapped some red paint in a paint bag. He told me that the
earth was everlasting but that things on this earth do not last long.
However, I would live to be an old man. Then he painted the rest
of his face and body with red paint.

He promised to give me the eagle tail for a medicine and also an
eagle head. Whenever I saw this kind of eagle flying high in the sky
I would notice smaller birds flying around it. He promised to include
one in my medicine.

After showing me a blackbird, a redheaded woodpecker, and a spar-
row, he asked which I wanted on top of my medicine. I chose the
blackbird since these birds are usually found with horses. A man with
their medicine always takes the lead on a horse raid.

I walked to a place where blackbirds were swarming and killed
one with a stone. When I returned Face Turned Round took the
bird, skinned it, and gave the skin to Sees The Living Bull, who then
told me to bring 'him three hairs from a horse's tail or mane. Again I
walked out and when I met Fox driving some horses I asked for a few
mane hairs. He told me to come with him to the river and there I
recognized a mouse-colored horse, one of the fastest of the tribal-
owned horses. 3 Fox gave me permission to cut a few mane and tail
hairs. In the tipi Sees The Living Bull asked if they had been taken
from a mare or a stallion. After I described the horse he approved and
sent me out for different-colored beads. When I returned he asked
if I wanted my wife to string them. But I said that I would do it since
she might not always be mine, while this medicine would stay with
me always.

Stuffing the blackbird's head with bighorn sheep hair, he mixed in
some sweet grass and a little horsehair. He placed the rest of the
horsehair in the beak, painting two pink spots on each end to represent
different-colored horses. Between two strips of weasel skin which he
had tied to the eagle-tail feathers, he wrapped my string of black,
white, and yellow beads, representing the clouds.

When Sees The Living Bull finished these preparations he undressed
152

to his breechcloth and moccasins and told me to do likewise. We
knelt facing east in the middle of the tipi, I on his right and the old
men sitting around us. Handing me his famous rock medicine, he told
me to press it to my heart. He mixed some pink paint with water
and sweet grass and rubbed it all over his body and smeared it on my
hair. Then he painted a red circle on my face and painted my eyes
and lips red. Finally he fastened the eagle tail to my hair and gave me
an eagle-bone whistle.

When he had fasted on that high mountain peak he said his vision
person had been painted as he had painted me now. What he had
seen was better than my vision which had caused my bad luck. But
though my dreams had not been powerful, he said now they would
change. Before I had only seen shadows, but now I would see real
things. He said that when a spirit person appeared in my dream I
would notice how he had painted himself. He said he was almost
finished. After singing me a song he was going to raise the eagle tail
to my eyes and under it I might see a horse or a body.

After blowing his eagle-bone whistle he asked how many times he
had blown it and I answered seven. He told me to remember that
number. On the warpath I was to blow my whistle seven times before
singing. Then he sang: "Whenever I go, I shall see them."

Whistling four times he raised the eagle tail and looked under it.
He held it before my eyes and I saw hair hanging down which dis-
appeared when I looked closer.

When I told him this he said I should go to Musselshell River when
the leaves turn yellow and continue to Where The Lightning Strikes
on the other side of Big River. There I would kill an enemy and would
see another lying on his back whom I was also to kill.

Giving me some dried pine needles, he taught me more songs to
sing during my raid. He also gave me his pipe and told me to put away
my own. Whenever I went on a raid he said one of my men should
carry this pipe before me. Then the enemy would think it was night
and not see us.

My medicine father said he had shown me real things. I was to fast
again, leaving my medicine behind and waiting on a high hill for my
spirit man. My first war party would be to the Musselshell River and
there I would find the scalps he had described. Before I left he prom-
ised to tell me where to camp each night. If I wanted to be successful
and justify his trust, he said, I must follow all this.

153

Finally he taught me one more song which gave me the power to
nake rain. While I escaped ahead of the downpour an enemy would
DC slowed down.

It was dark when I returned to my tipi. At last I had received a
medicine. At last I was a real pipeholder, known to everyone. Now
[ had to show I could hold the respect of these sacred men. Although
it would be awhile before I could test my powers, this time the wait-
ing was not so hard.

154

Chapter Twenty-Five

Calculating -from Two Leggings* occasionally broken sequence

of seasons, the hunts described in this chapter probably took

place around 1869-70. In 1872 Agent F. D. Pease's report listed

2,700 Mountain Crows and 1^400 River Crows, many 'mouths

to -feed from the already thinning herds. At this time the

Government was still permitting the Crows to hunt at will,

though pressuring them to return to the reservation once the

summer's kills were over.

One early record of a Crow camp's summer roaming after

the herds describes them on the move jorty -seven out of

seventy-six days and covering a median distance of nine and a

half miles per day. 'Following the courses of streams, they

halted because of rain, because of serious illness, to pasture

horses, to hunt and prepare hides and meat, and to settle

disagreements over routes to follow.

During the winter, when the bands probably broke up into

smaller residential groups, men often hunted in small parties

or alone, as Two Leggings has done earlier. Even after the

Crows had horses they used the old method of the buffalo

drive. Having surrounded a herd, they either drove the animals

into a corral at the foot of a bank and shot them at leisure

or stampeded them off a cliff. An early nineteenth-century

account numbers seven hundred buffalo killed in one such

drive. But most communal hunts from horseback netted several

hundred animals.

SOON AFTER RECEIVING my medicine I returned to the River Crow
camp and waited to go on a raid. One day Two Belly invited eleven

155

of us to his tipi. He lit the pipe and passed it around and after we had
smoked we talked. He wanted to move to our winter quarters and
had chosen Little Tipi Creek close to the Buffalo Heart Mountain.
I thought it a little early and Big Lake and Red Hail agreed. But most
of the men wanted to go and the move was planned for the new moon.

After our meeting I visited Big Lake and Red Hail. We decided
that when camp moved we would hunt in another direction. Every-
one was short of supplies and I thought we should collect sufficient
provisions before leaving for winter camp.

Five days later I woke to the camp crier ordering the people to
pull down their tipis. Women began packing their robes and house-
hold goods on horses which the men were bringing in from the pas-
tures. The remaining supplies were stored in parfleches and loaded on
travois drawn by horses or dogs. 1 Finally the tipis were taken down
and packed and the poles tied in equal bundles on either side of a
horse.

The morning was bright and clear. The camp leader, whose name
I have forgotten, sang his medicine song and prayed for success on
the march and for plenty of game in the new location. As he rode
with his camp leader's medicine unwrapped and tied to his shoulder,
the people fell in line behind him, all singing.

It made me a little sorry to leave, but then I thought of the hunting
ahead and forgot about it. As planned, I branched off at a little creek.
Red Hail and Big Lake followed with their households, while the main
party continued along the river.

We were heading for the hilly southern country where we had
discovered a large buffalo herd some days before. In the clear air
the Bighorn Mountains seemed only a short ride away. The first
winter snows already showed on their upper slopes, and the cotton-
wood trees along the creek bottoms were starting to lose their leaves.
No birds sang in the air, and the sagebrush and grass had turned the
colors of leaf-falling season. But the weather was still warm.

Then we noticed three men riding to catch up with us. Before they
got close I recognized Two Belly and could tell he was angry. He
began scolding us right away.

I explained that because of the lack of supplies and the early season
I wanted to store enough meat before leaving for winter camp. Close
by, I said, were enough buffalo to feed everyone.

Two Belly said I should have told him before. I had been selfish and
had not thought of our hungry women and children. If we returned
156

with him, he said, they would prepare for a hunt the next day in
which I would be leader.

Later that afternoon, after the three of us had rejoined the camp,
the men met in a large circle. Several pipes were lit and passed around.
Two Belly asked me to tell his people where I had discovered the
large herd.

When I finished he stood up again and suggested we leave the
older men, women, and children with enough warriors for their
protection while we led the rest on one or two big hunts.

Everyone agreed and the women were told to set up camp along
the creek bottom. Before sundown we arrived at the place where I
had seen the herds. After telling them where to camp I sent scouts to
locate the animals, warning them to stay far enough away as they
watched through the night. Two Belly had ridden with us and now
he asked if I was going to make a buffalo-hunting medicine. I had no
right to make such a medicine and should have asked a real medicine
man for help, but I was too proud.

I told them to bring me seven buifalo chips which I laid in a row.
Facing east, I asked for a pipe. After it was handed to me I lit it and
prayed for success. Then I stuck an eagle feather upright in my hair,
telling the hunters I was making medicine for a good wind the next
day. As I held my forelock I said they could decide. If I bent it left
the wind would blow from there, and if I pointed it forward or back-
ward the wind would blow from those directions. I said that if I blew
pipe smoke behind me there would be a strong wind. If the wind blew
toward the buffalo as we approached I promised to make medicine
again, but if it blew toward us I would not do anything.

Two Belly said he would rather not have any wind and told me to
put my forelock straight up if I thought that would make us successful.

After doing this I drew a mouthful of smoke and blew slowly into
the hollow of my hands. I told the men to be ready the next morning
and said there would be little or no wind.

Long before dawn everyone was awake and we brought in the
horses. We led our saddle horses and buffalo runners so they would be
fresh, and rode the pack horses. Two Belly warned the hunters to
ride slowly or the buffalo would hear them. During the night, riders
had kept in contact with the scouts.

There were about a hundred and fifty of us. I was supposed to be
the leader and rode ahead. No one knew how worried I was. The
wind was behind us from the south and the buffalo were reported

157

straight north. I overheard some men talking about my kind of medi-
cine man. When Two Belly rode alongside and asked what I intended
doing I grew scared. But I told him that as soon as we reached a cer-
tain ridge he would be satisfied.

I did not have the power to say the wind would change. I only
hoped the buffalo had strayed so we could change direction.

As we approached the hill I thought how wrongly I had acted. I
knew it would be the end to my future if I let anyone suspect me.
But I made a vow to the Great Above Person that if my make-believe
medicine worked I would buy a proper buffalo medicine and sacrifice
to him. Men rode up to ask me things but I ignored them, praying
that something would change.

When we were within gunshot of the rimrock base the wind sud-
denly died down. Finally we reached the foot and I led my horse up
the narrow trail that curved to the top where a scout waited. Still
there was no wind. I looked back and saw the line of our men like a
snake behind me. Nearing the top, I noticed a little dust cloud blown
toward us by a northern breeze.

I thanked the Great Above Person, repeating my vow and prom-
ising never to do such a thing again.

A scout ran down to report the buffalo grazing quietly on the
northern side of a rimrock a little distance away. Now it was safe to
ride to another rimrock. Two Belly was beside me and said that I
was a powerful medicine man and that when he died I would take his
place. He had doubted my power in the morning, he said, but now he
was sure of me. I nodded my head and rode on.

On the flat top we got off our pack horses and mounted our buffalo
runners. A sloping prairie led to the foot of the next rimrock. The
buffalo were grazing on the other side. I told my men to follow me
at a slow trot and then everyone could hunt as he wanted. From the
next rimrock we saw the huge herd grazing only two rifle shots away.

Riding into the middle of them I was quickly alongside a fat two-
year-old cow and about to shoot when my horse stepped into a badger
hole. I did a complete turn in the air and rolled away as three buffalo
raced by. If I had not been on the herd's edge I would have been killed.
My horse had also landed on its back but managed to get to its feet.
It was frightened and when I grabbed for the bridle it jerked away
and chased the buffalo.

The men passed me, some asking about my horse and others just
158

laughing. Then I was alone with the buffalo carcasses. Soon the hunters
returned and began skinning and butchering their animals. I recog-
nized Two Belly and Big Lake with about five other men. There
was nothing to do but walk up.

As I was explaining why I was on foot Curley rode by, calling out
that my horse was running wild among the buffalo. I thanked him but
could do nothing. Big Lake offered one of his four buffalo and I
thanked him and started skinning. I had no horse to carry the meat
and asked Big Lake if he could bring my pack horse. All the time I
had to listen to people talking about this medicine man who was
hunting and skinning without a horse. I paid no attention when they
asked how many more buffalo I intended to MIL Big Lake finally
returned and I loaded my meat.

My wife wanted to know why I had returned without the hide and
where I had left my horse. Her sister was living with us, and although
they did not say anything I knew what they thought about so little
meat. A cousin of mine returned late in the evening with my horse.
He had seen my fall and had caught it in the herd. He started saying
unpleasant things because he had lost the chance to hunt himself. I
had to give him a present for recovering the horse. I felt properly
punished.

Soon afterward I completed my vow and bought a powerful buffalo-
hunting medicine from one of our medicine men, explaining that my
last hunt had brought me such bad luck I was afraid my own medicine
was not powerful enough.

Then I felt ready to make my name good again. Although I was
still being teased I told no one about my new hunting medicine.

About six days after that unlucky hunt the meat and hides had
dried and we traveled along the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains,
camping at the Black Buttes. Scouts were sent in different directions
and returned in two days with news of many buffalo close by. Then
I told my friends that I would be leader again, built a sweat lodge,
and invited the older people.

My medicine was an eagle feather painted with six white spots
giving me the power to direct the wind. After the proper ceremony
the wind would blow from the direction pointed by the feather in
my hair. The six spots meant that the owner could cause a sudden
hailstorm between himself and a pursuing enemy. Later I used the
feather many times and it always worked.

159

Two Belly had announced that we would stay there long enough
to dry the meat and hides. Now we hoped to kill enough to last us
through the winter. This rime I did not worry.

Long before the sun rose we set out. The skin tipis were still lit
up from the fires inside. The morning was frosty and the leaves made
noise under our horses' hooves. We rode silently and at sunup ar-
rived on a hilltop with a wide view of the prairie. Four or five gun-
shots ahead a small group of buffalo bulls were grazing quietly along
a little creek, and farther on the country was black with them. A
strong wind blew into our faces. We would be able to ride right
among them before they smelled us. I heard many approving words
about the medicine I had made for this hunt. A few friends told me
to hold on to my horse, but I did not mind.

We changed to our buffalo horses and I tied my bridle to my belt
with an extra piece of thong. When we all raced into the herd I chased
a young bull. As I was aiming my gun the bull ran into my horse. The
thong broke and I was on the ground, my eyes and mouth filled with
dust. My friends behind had trouble avoiding me. I felt miserable and
realized I was still being punished.

Someone caught my horse and even before I could clean the dirt
from my eyes I was riding after buffalo again. I killed several and my
wife was happy when she saw the hides and meat.

The following day Two Belly invited me and some other friends
to his tipi. During our smoke they made fun of me, wondering
whether I had asked my horse if it had been hurt and if it had asked
me the same question. They said that at the next hunt I should make
medicine and then stay home while hired boys killed my animals. But
the hunt had been successful and although I was teased they felt my
medicine had been powerful.

Soon after that Stands Among Them, Clear On The Forehead,
Female Face, and I were hunting and located a group of old bulls and
two younger ones. We decided to let the old bulls escape because their
meat would be too tough. But before we had circled them one old
bull smelled us, stopped grazing, and stared in our direction. Then it
kicked dirt back with its front hooves and led the others racing down
a coulee toward Elk River. We were right behind as they followed a
flat bordering the river. The bank grew into a steep mud bluff and
they could not escape into the hills. Female Face rode between the
river and the buffalo, driving them against these banks. When they
160

passed a small ravine the old bull thought he had found an opening
and led his herd into it. But the ravine was a dead end with dirt walls
on three sides. The old bull began tearing out great chunks of earth
with his horns. The others milled around while we closed in.

Suddenly a young bull broke away. One man shot and missed as it
made for the river. I was a little in the rear and jumped off my horse,
kneeling to shoot. When it rushed me I tried to reach my horse but
the bull had scared it off. Then I stumbled over a rock and fell, my
rifle landing out of reach. The buffalo snorted and came at me. I
prayed to my medicine and the Great Above Person and thought how
much better it would have been to die fighting. As I caught sight of
its red eyes, its head lowered onto me. My wind was knocked out
and I thought I was dead. I felt my soul start on the journey to the
Other Side Camp.

When I came back to myself I thought I was riding a bucking
horse and was confused. Sweat seemed to cover me. Then I woke.
The buffalo's horn had only hooked under my belt. When it raised
its head to gore me again it had felt my weight and had run for the
river. Now it stood in shallow water, swinging me up and down and
ducking me each time. The water had woken me but I was kept under
so long I felt I was drowning. Each time the buffalo shook its head the
curve of its horn mashed my insides like berries. When I tried to call
my friends the buffalo held me under and soon I grew too exhausted
to care. After fainting again I heard what seemed to be thunder. I
felt myself falling, my soul left me, and everything went black.

Some time later I heard a mumbling which turned into voices. For
a moment I wondered if they were my spirit ancestors welcoming
me into the world beyond. But soon I recognized my friends' voices
calling my name. My soul returned and I woke. I thought I was
badly hurt and kept calling for them to take me away. But except for
being cut on my face when the buffalo had bounced me on its run to
the river, I was unhurt.

My friends had thought the horn went through me. They had fol-
lowed us, killing the bull in the shallows. I never again dismounted
during a buffalo hunt.

161

Chapter Twenty-Six

The game-stocked Yellowstone Valley was sufficiently

tempting to other tribes that Crow raiding parties rarely had

to travel -far to encounter enemies. "But some of their forays

did cover long distances and last many months.

Around 1825-30 a 'war party led by Twists His Tail returned

to its River Crow camp after an absence of two and a half

years. Part of their booty was a pregnant 'woman dressed in a

deerskin dress fringed with pleasantly tinkling ornaments. She

was probably Apache, evidence of a journey which had seen

the Crows enter a country u where prickly-pear cactus grew

as tall as a man and its leaves the size of a shield?''

But they also went east, walking as far as the middle course

of the Missouri to raid the Sioux, or north into Canada to steal

from the Blackfeet, and across the continental divide for

Nez Perce horses.

When they rode it was as mounted infantry; the skirmishing

took place on the ground. Of such stretches in their hide saddles

the Crow comment was, "buttocks were worn out"

IT WAS STILL the moon when the leaves turn yellow. One day a war
party led by Arapaho returned with news of Coyote Howls' death. I
told Two Belly that I wanted revenge but that first I would visit Sees
The Living Bull who was camped in the Hits With The Arrows
country. That evening I made a sweat lodge and the next morning
rode to his tipi.

When I told him my plans he asked the direction I intended to go.
I answered Where The Lightning Strikes, the place I had seen when
162

he had made my medicine. He approved and told me where to camp
each night.

I sang many songs as I followed the winding Arrow Creek home,
arriving long after sunset at the joining of the two rivers.

That night in my tipi I sang my medicine songs. After purifying my
body in a smudge of white pine needles I fell asleep and had a medi-
cine dream. A big hawk flying high in the sky fell to earth and rose
again with a man in its claws. It dropped the body at the place in my
earlier dream. When I woke I knew that my medicine was with me
and prepared to leave. I had told friends that I expected to go out as
soon as I returned from Sees The Living Bull's. Eleven joined me;
Woman Face, Clear On The Forehead, and High Hawk were about
my age but the others were younger.

Before sunrise we headed toward the Musselshell River. There was
plenty of game so we carried no provisions. But that day we could
not get within shooting distance of anything. After making camp in
the bottom of the Musselshell Valley we went to sleep hungry.

By dawn we were already riding and before the sun was a man's
height above the horizon had killed two buffalo. Now we jerked and
packed some of the meat.

Just before sundown we arrived at the next camping place which
Sees The Living Bull had described, Stone Pile, a day's travel north
of the Musselshell River. After a night there we took the trail to Big
River, opposite the eastern spur of the Little Rockies, where we camped
the third night. At the end of the fourth day we came to the mouth
of Dry Creek on the western shore of Big River. The next day we
expected to reach Where The Lightning Strikes River. Now we had
to be careful for across Big River was enemy country.

In the morning I sent men to scout the opposite banks. When
they reported no enemy signs we made skin boats, weighted them
with stones, and tied on our clothing and weapons and ammunition.
We swam across with a piece of driftwood under one arm, pulling the
boats with thongs in our teeth. For some time the nights had been
frosty and the water was cold. On the other side we were so numbed
we risked a fire. Some men gathered dry wood, especially dry bark
when they could find it since it made little smoke. On the east we
were well hidden by a high bank, and thick chokecherry bushes sur-
rounded us. After we were warm we wiped out all traces of the fire.
I sent four men ahead to scout the banks as we traveled among the
big cottonwoods lining the valley bottom.

Toward evening we approached Where The Lightning Strikes
where the river banks are cut by a creek bearing the same name. The
scouts still reported no enemy signs, but knowing we would meet
them here I had my men tie their horses and make camp.

Early the next morning we built a fire, careful again not to use
smoking wood. After we ate I ordered my men on their horses, telling
them that I was sure we would soon meet enemies. I posted a lookout
on a nearby hill and rode carefully up the creek, the others far behind.
As I drew near the location in my vision I turned a bend and hid in a
willow grove to watch the creek bottom's upper reaches. I was still
not certain enemies were in the vicinity, but I had faith in my medicine
dream. Then buffalo spilled over the southern bank several rifle shots
away, and behind them rode two Sioux.

Singing my medicine song I ran back and met the scout running
down the hill. He reported ten more Sioux riding our way. Although
we were twelve, two were boys carrying only knives. But I reminded
my men that these Sioux were not brave and that as soon as we began
shooting some would run off.

I told them to take out their medicines and sing their songs. I told
them to be brave. Sees The Living Bull had said there was no reason
to be afraid. After opening my medicine bundle I blew my eagle-bone
whistle seven times. Then I knelt and held up my eagle medicine with
my left hand. As I looked under it I sang: "The bird above is kind to
me. There are some Indians. They are easy to me. I want to talk to
them. They are easy."

Then I blew my whistle again. Swaying from side to side, I saw two
falling enemies underneath my medicine. I was going to kill those
Sioux.

The ten other Sioux were a few rifle shots away, but had not yet
crossed the spot where I had seen the two men fall. Now the first two
hunters disappeared behind the ridge in my vision and I led my men up
the other side.

The other Sioux saw us and rushed to join their friends. As the
first hunter rode over the ridge I shot him in the leg. Dismounting as
soon as he fell I dodged his pistol bullet and killed him with another
shot. After I scalped his beautiful hair I held one half up to the sun.

My men were spreading out along the ridge and firing. High Hawk
wounded one who escaped. When the ten Sioux saw me kill that man
they raced away until they were too far to chase. Also, we feared they
might be part of a larger camp.
164

My first pipeholder's vision had been fulfilled. Although we had
only killed one and wounded another I was anxious to bring my men
safely back. We traveled all day and reached the river that night, pull-
ing out the skin boats we had hidden under brush. Then I felt safe
and, as I swam across, sang one of my medicine songs: "He was just
going in front of us."

This time the cold water did not bother me. Once on the other side
I remembered that other war parties were out and told my men to
hurry. Our celebration would be even better if we were the first to
return successfully.

All that night and through the next day we galloped along the
Musselshell River. About sunset we came around a bend and saw a
Crow camp and recognized several men returning from a buffalo hunt.
I took out my new medicine which Sees The Living Bull had given me
and we made charcoal and blackened our faces. After everyone had
tied on their medicines and the scalp was attached to a long thin pole
we rode toward camp, shooting our guns into the air. A moment later
the drums began and the women ran out of their tipis singing a scalp
song. On all sides people called out my name and pointed to my scalp.
They sang my song: "Wherever he is staying, we are going where he
is."

They also sang this song: "I want to have another song."

All night long we sang and danced. My ambition had come true and
I was a real pipeholder. By dawn we were too tired to celebrate any
more and finished by singing a love song: "The one I love, do not go
home. You are the only one I love, do not go home."

I gave away half of the scalp and kept the other half to take to our
home camp which I learned was on Porcupine Creek. Two days later
we left and when we rode into our village, celebrated all over again.
I sang this medicine song: "Whoever he is, I am going to him."

The whole camp joined in and everyone felt good. I had avenged
Coyote Howls and my name was spoken through camp. I never tired
of telling about this trip, and visitors returned to hear it again.

My medicine father was camped with the Mountain Crows along
Elk River at a place now called Pease Bottom * and I was anxious to
see him. Three men from my last war party rode with me and I led
a horse for him. When we could see his camp we shot our guns and
I sang a victory song: "I thank you. Go right by here. I thank you."

As Sees The Living Bull invited me into his tipi I said that here was
some nice hair for him. He seemed pleased as he took the scalp out of

the buckskin cover I had made. I told him that everything he had pre-
dicted had come true but that instead of two men I had killed one and
wounded another who escaped. I had been afraid of telling this but he
called me his son and said that everything was all right. While I should
have chased them until one more was dead, he said, the wounded man
would die before reaching home. He wanted me to stay in camp this
winter, and next spring when the water rose to go to Bear Creek. There
I would kill an enemy and in the moon when the grass is high I would
kill another.

And it happened as Sees The Living Bull said. The events he fore-
told always came true. He had given me his medicine and now he gave
me his dreams and visions which brought me many victories as the
summers and winters passed.

166

Qha-pter Twenty-Seven

In Two Leggings' boyhood there 'were eight

warrior societies whose duties were to guard the camp against

nocturnal raids and to police the hunts. A member might

order an anxious hunter back into line; disobedience

brought a swift whipping. Returning -from a clandestine

raid, the Crow hotblood might find his tipi in ribbons; the society

chosen by the head chief the previous spring had

discovered his unauthorized mission and delivered punishment.

The Foxes and Lumpwoods, which emerged,

as the dominant societies when Two Leggings was reaching

manhood, were very similar in insignia and

organization. In each two officials, elected for one

summer season, bore otter-skin-wrapped crooked staffs,

while two other officers carried straight staffs.

These positions were often regretted; the straight-staff bearer

must plant his emblem into the ground during a

fight. If no fellow member passed between him and the enemy

he was duty bound to stand until he cc dropped his robe?

The fierce rivalry between the Foxes and Lumpwoods

displayed itself on the battlefield and at home. On raids each

would try to outdo the other in accumulating honors;

in the spring each would attempt to abduct former mistresses

who had in the meantime married members of the opposing

society.

WE WERE CAMPED along the Bighorn River close to the mouth of the
Little Bighorn River, but game grew scarce so we moved to Rotten
Grass Creek and then to Mud Creek, near the foot of the Bighorn
Mountains.

Sees The Living Bull told me that if I wanted he would give me his
vision of the killing of a Sioux east of Wolf Mountains. But it was
snow-melting season and I was lazy. I did not want to go on the war-
path and put it off. Also, the Foxes had gone on a raid and I was wait-
ing for their return.

One day Wolf Bear, I, and some friends were sitting in the shade of
my dpi. It was warmer than usual and we did not feel like doing much.
Camp had plenty of meat and there were no reports of enemies. It was
still early in the day when we heard shooting and saw a party of
Foxes riding over a Mil, carrying long poles with scalps tied to the ends
and singing victory songs. The women rushed out of their tipis and
began the scalp dance song as soon as they saw their husbands and
lovers.

The war party rode through camp. When they saw us Lumpwoods
they sang and one song was about me: "Two Leggings poor man,
Two Leggings poor man."

I walked away with the other society members, but the Foxes fol-
lowed: "Those Lumpwoods are running away. They are afraid."

They called us all kinds of names because we had not gone to war.
Some of their songs were about our wives. I told the others that I was
leaving the next day and whoever wanted could join me. On our re-
turn I promised we would make songs against them.

The others were ready so I went to see Sees The Living Bull, who
seemed glad. The following morning, after the proper preparations, I
rode toward the Wolf Mountains with Plain Face, Black Hair, Little
Heart, and Bobtail Wolf, all Lumpwoods and my companions since
Young Mountain's death.

When we noticed some men leaving camp to catch up with us we
waited and then all rode to a meadow just before the foothills of the
Wolf Mountains. After our evening meal we sat and smoked. The full
moon threw deep shadows over the country. All night Lumpwood
members rode in and we heard that Wolf Bear was bringing his friends.
Toward morning he rode into our camp, looking very fine on a lively
horse, his pipeholder's war pipe hanging from a wide otter-skin strip
over his shoulder. He was singing: "Our enemies just passed in front
of us."

We moved into the Wolf Mountains but did not travel far because
the trail was steep and we wanted our horses fresh.

Now there were several pipeholders and that evening they met to-
gether. I wanted to finish eating but they kept calling so I put on my
168

war shirt and leggings of softly tanned mountain-sheep skin trimmed
with weasel skins and scalp locks. Around my neck I wore a good
wampum necklace and attached long pieces of false hair to my head.
In my own hair I wore a red plume tied to a brass ring. Then I rode
my beautiful bay horse to their meeting ground.

After all the pipeholders had smoked, each spoke about the direc-
tion we should take. Old White Man had planned to go to a place
called Where The White Clay Is. Hillside stood up and said he had
dreamed that enemies were at Where The Lightning Strikes on the
other side of Big River. Bobtail Wolf wanted to go to Where The
Dog Bites. Hunts The Enemy said we should ride to Where The Gros
Ventre Sun Dance Tipi Stands. Then Wolf Bear said that I had started
this, that none of them had gotten angry. Many of the warriors had
come, he said, because they knew I would lead them. He asked if I
was going after horses or if I just wanted scalps.

When I stood up I told them of my medicine father's dream to cross
the Wolf Mountains to the east and follow the mountains north where
I would meet two enemies, one on a bay and the other on a gray. In
his dream he had been told to kill the first, but to let the other escape
because he was too dangerous. I said that I wanted to follow this trail
which was short while the others required many days. I reminded
them of the bad names we had been called and said that this way we
could bring back scalps as proof of our bravery. When we made songs
about the Foxes they would be silent.

As I sat down I could see they liked my words. Wolf Bear stood up
and said that I was right to be angry. The trail I described was short so
we would return soon to our tipis and wives and women. He said that
with the help of the Great Above Person we would silence those Foxes.

They all agreed and I was now leader. The next morning we rode
northeast over the rough trail through the Wolf Mountains. As we
descended the eastern slopes we came upon buffalo as thick as grass.
Camping by a creek a few men rode out to kill a fat cow. Soon we
were roasting buffalo ribs. There were many of us and game might
not be so plentiful north so we heated up the fire, laid down green
willows, and spread enough meat strips for two days' travel.

That evening we chose four scouts, Sits Toward The Mountain,
Kind Hearted Old Man, Bird On The Prairie, and another whose
name I have forgotten, telling them to set out before daybreak toward
Snake Hill, a high mountain at the northeastern end of the Wolf
Mountains.

169

The next morning, after a quick meal, we traveled along the eastern
slopes. It was good to be out again and the early spring air made me
happy. I was sure we would be successful. That evening we camped at
the foot of Snake Hill while our scouts spent the night on top, watch-
ing the northern country. In the morning I sent a boy to bring in the
horses while we ate dried meat. He rushed back, saying that our scouts
were howling like wolves. When the scouts rode in, waving their guns
over their heads and howling, we all stood up. If they had only howled
it would have meant buffalo, but the waving of their guns meant
enemies.

They had spotted two Sioux chasing buffalo on the other side of the
mountain and had left a man to keep watch. They were very excited
and wanted us to leave right away. Wolf Bear took the lead, singing
his medicine song: "There is somebody just going in front of us."

At the base of Snake Hill we left our horses and crawled up. The
scout pointed them out, butchering their buffalo. We went down for
our horses and began painting ourselves and unwrapping our medi-
cines.

I was on one of the fastest horses I ever owned. It was well known to
our people. Around its neck I fastened a necklace of rock-swallow
feathers, small bells, and a stuffed hawk. When you watch rock
swallows flying in a tight bunch you never see them touch. This neck-
lace gave my horse that same power to dodge if I was chased. The bells
meant a coming storm. If I was followed by enemies I would pray for
a sudden storm to come between us, slowing them down. The hawk
was a fast, high-flying kind that had long endurance; I wanted those
qualities for my horse.

Paints His Head Red, next to me on a beautiful bay, painted his face
with black stripes under the eyes. On his head he tied a stuffed eagle.
He was singing his medicine song: "I am going to strike the enemy. I
want to have the body."

If we rode straight down they could escape into the thickly wooded
coulees. We descended on our side, carefully circled the base of the
hill, and came upon them skinning their animals apart from each other.
A bay stood beside the man nearest us. The other had a gray and I
told my men to let him escape as I had been advised.

As we whipped our horses, Pale Face, Young Curlew, High Hawk,
and I took the lead. The bay jerked its rope from the Sioux's arms
where it had been loosely wrapped and began running in circles. The
man fell behind the buffalo carcass and started shooting. We all fired
170

'"J

and then I saw his gun on the ground and blood running from his nose
and mouth. High Hawk and I were the first to ride up. As I leaned
over to pick up his gun High Hawk shoved me away and grabbed it.
Then I dismounted, scalped him as he was dying, and mounted again.
Two men had chased his horse and both wanted it so badly they
finally shot it.

The others were chasing the remaining Sioux toward the creek at
the lower end of the flat. Straight Calf shot his horse. As it fell the
man lay on the ground and shot back. He was brave and even shot a
man in the leg. I yelled to them to leave him alone, that we had an
enemy scalp and should return to make up songs against the Foxes.
But they wanted to kill him.

Then we heard war cries and shooting. Many Sioux burst out of the
trees where this man had been riding. We had not noticed a large camp
pitched in the timber along the river bottom. I yelled to my men to
head toward the mountains, but most were already on their way.

Six of us on long-winded horses covered for our friends, shooting
back and riding slowly as long as they could see us, but whipping our
horses when we were out of sight. By the time they topped a ridge,
we were again out of rifle range.

When I noticed my horse tiring I shouted to the rest to keep riding
while I made medicine. At the next ridge I dismounted and untied a
little medicine bag which was always fastened to my shirt. With a
small bone spoon I took out some powdered herbs and rubbed them
into my horse's mouth and nostrils and on its jaw. After mounting
again I sang my horse a medicine song: "My horse is fast. My horse is
faster."

Although I was supposed to sing this song to each of the earth's
four corners, east, south, west, and north, the Sioux were very close.
When I was about to sing my last song I noticed two other groups of
Sioux racing toward me from right and left, and heard the men in front
singing. Bullets whistled by and kicked up dirt around my horse. I
galloped down the ridge. By the time the first Sioux reached the place
where I had made medicine I could laugh when they shot at me. For
a long time my horse did not tire and I played with them again. Reach-
ing the mountains I rode up a steep slope. Wolf Bear made signs from
the top for me to walk my horse up. Then we watched the few re-
maining Sioux start the climb.

He asked if I had killed another but I said that I had just escaped.
When he warned me that our trail would be useless if I was killed I

171

explained about my horse. He agreed that the medicine had saved my
life. Some Sioux were still behind us as we joined the others on the next
mountain. For the rest of that day and through that night we did not
stop. I switched to a pack horse, turning my own in with the extras
we had brought. The sun was rising as we descended the last ridges.

The Bighorn Mountains were still covered with snow almost to their
foothills and further west the snow on the Beartooth Mountains and
Rockies shone in the sun. The sky was clear and first green was show-
ing everywhere. Our horses kept trying to eat the new grass, but we
pushed them on because the Sioux might still be behind. Also I was
eager to reach camp so we could dance another scalp dance while the
women sang for us. We rode all that day, stopping at dust to eat some
dried meat and to give our horses grass and water from a creek. The
moon was above the eastern horizon as we rode through the night.
Just before dawn we came out of the breaks and entered Elk River
Valley, soon finding our village near the Mountain Lion's Lodge. ,

We stopped to put on the war shirts, medicines, warbonnets, and
leggings we had brought, and painted our faces to show we had been
successful. I led six men galloping into camp. When we reached the
center of the tipis we circled around, pretending to fight each other.
Then we dashed back out, joined the others, and all galloped into
camp, five abreast, firing our guns into the air. From the top of a long
willow pole I carried my scalp. It was scraped thin, dyed with a mix-
ture of blood and charcoal, and stretched on a willow hoop. Everyone
was singing; this was my song: "I shall travel to some place. I shall be
glad."

Our wives and girl friends rushed out of their tipis and people who
had recently lost relatives took the scalp pole and danced with it and
sang. The women also painted their faces with charcoal. We used the
blood and charcoal mixture to paint the older women's and widows'
robes solid black, and painted black stripes on the robes of the younger
women and girls. Several men brought drums out of their tipis and sat
down inside the camp circle. As the women danced the scalp dance
we fell in behind them.

My name was praised by everyone and I forgot about the Foxes. We
danced through the day and late into the night. Early in the morning
the women came to the tipis calling for the men who had gone with
us and we began the scalp dance again. The following day the men
woke the women and we danced some more. For several days we
feasted like this and were happy. Then I remembered the Foxes. They
had not expected us so soon and were quiet during our celebrating.
172

I began one my scalp dance songs: "I went by here. The last one
was better than the first."

Riding by a group of Foxes I said that now we would call them
names. I collected the Lumpwood members still celebrating and we
rode double with our wives and girl friends who always joined in this.
We were singing: "Where they stop, I shall go straight there to
where they stop. I thank you."

Boils His Leggings was the Foxes' leader. As we rode by his fine
tipi I made a funny song about the Foxes. Boils His Leggings' wife
rushed out with a club and began beating my horse. We left and after
riding around camp once more I planned something. But I warned my
men not to touch Boils His Leggings or his family. We all dismounted,
hid our guns under our blankets, and sang as we walked through the
camp: "We are going. We are going into the northern country."

When we arrived at his tipi Boils His Leggings was sitting outside,
a magpie feather in the long braids coiled on his head. Red spots were
painted on his forehead to represent stars. I think he had expected us
back and wanted to make us afraid of his medicine power.

What happened next was not the way to treat a great warrior. But
the same thing had happened to me and could again. We pretended to
surround him and I talked loudly to my men, saying that this man
was so powerful they could only shout at him.

Everyone yelled and clapped their hands over their mouths. When
they had quieted down I said they should not shoot because their bul-
lets could not kill him. If they touched this great medicine man, I
said, he would do something to them.

My friends shouted once more and uncovered their guns, shooting
oif the tips of many of his tipi poles. Several bullets also tore holes in
the smoke flaps. I had brought a drum and began singing: "Lump all
over him. Lump all over him."

Then we were all singing and laughing and shouting. Boils His
Leggings had rheumatism; his legs and hands were swollen and this
was what I meant. Again his wife ran out, crying that I had ruined
their tipi. She said I had never owned one as nice and called me a bad
man. She was so angry she could hardly talk. Although Boils His
Leggings could not show his anger, I saw in his eyes that we had hurt
him as badly as he had hurt me.

We would have kept it up if Crooked Arm, the camp chief, had not
appeared, carrying his medicine pipe uncovered. He invited us to
smoke, saying we were all his children, especially me, and asked us to
have pity.

173

I would only take the pipe if Boils His Leggings took it, since he
had started this. Then Boils His Leggings said that I was foolish and
not even a medicine man. From now on, he said, I would never sing
victory songs or kill any enemies.

I told him that he had never received a dream and had had to buy
his medicine from White Fox. I promised to show him that his power
was nothing to me.

Crooked Arm told us to stop this, but Boils His Leggings kept talk-
ing. Then Crooked Arm told me that Boils His Leggings was older
and not to listen. He asked us again to smoke and said that if I wanted
to become a chief I must control myself.

When I took the pipe our revenge on the Foxes was over. But Boils
His Leggings still would not smoke. After that he never went on a
raid or killed any more enemies, while I went out many times and be-
came an even greater warrior than before.

Soon afterward the Foxes took revenge on me. Returning from a
short raid, I found my tipi empty and learned that a young Fox mem-
ber had stolen my wife. During the early spring season this often
went on between the Foxes and Lumpwoods. It had begun in the long
ago when we were taught to endure all kinds of things without com-
plaining. It would have been a disgrace for me to take her back. Al-
though I had been very fond of her I could not show my unhappiness
and did not try to see her.

Medicine Crow tried to cheer me, saying that there were many good
women in camp. When I finally realized she was lost forever I asked
for his help. Two Stars was still young, pretty, and a hard worker. Be-
fore she married Knows His Ground she had been my girl friend.
Now he was away on the warpath. But I said that he would return to
an empty tipi.

Medicine Crow and I rode to Knows His Ground's tipi early the
next morning. When I opened the door flap Two Stars was alone in-
side. I told her to come with me because I was going to marry her.
She knew I could have taken her by force. Without a word, she threw
her buffalo robe over her shoulders and walked out behind me. I lifted
her on my horse and took her to my tipi. We did not talk much the
first few days, but she began her duties right away. She was a good
tanner of robes, clean and good to look at, and I was happy.

For the year she remained my wife I stayed in camp. Then, early
the following spring season, I went on a raid. First we went to Fort
Benton and then northwest to the Piegans and the Blackf eet, discover-

Ing them along Badger Creek where the old Blackfeet agency stands.
The seven of us were able to run off many horses and return safely to
our camp on Plum Creek. On this trip we met a group of white trap-
pers who had recently come into our country.

When I walked into my tipi my wife was not there. I asked around
and was told she had returned to her relatives who were camped with
the Many Lodges on the Bighorn River.

I was still young and wild. As soon as I learned this I ran off with
another girl. But Two Stars was not happy with her family. When
she returned within a moon she was surprised and angry I had married
again.

I liked her and took her back. But my two wives were jealous and
quarreled from the first day. Although I lived with them I saw other
women, and this made more fighting as each blamed the other. I could
do nothing with them and moved to my brother's camp.

One day there I dressed up in all my best clothes to watch a dance.
A woman in the circle of dancers seemed glad that I noticed her. I
must have looked good because that evening I heard a footstep out-
side my brother's tipi and a voice calling me. When I went behind the
tipi I told her that as long as she stayed with her husband I could not
marry her. I said I loved her and wanted her to be my wife. She threw
her arms around me, kissed me, and wanted to go inside so no one
could see us.

My brother's family was away so we sat down. Soon the door flap
was raised; her husband looked first at me and then at his wife. After
I had walked out I heard him ask about me, but did not hear her reply.
I watched the tipi until they left and then went back in.

The next day there was a big Tobacco Dance and Medicine Crow
and I were watching on our best horses. I was looking out for the
girl's husband since he had the right to give me a beating, which I
would have to take without complaining. But the dance was exciting
and I forgot. Then people around me yelled and something hit my
back, knocking me off my horse. He had come up behind me with a
stick hidden under his robe. The people held him while Medicine
Crow and I rode away. It had been my fault and I would have made
a fool of myself if I had said something in anger. When the people
asked why he had done it he described finding me the night before
with his wife in my brother's tipi. Later my brother told me that I was
on my way to becoming a chief and that a chiefs first duties were to
respect our customs. He said I should know that I was not supposed

175

to be alone with someone else's wife inside a tipi. If I was looking for
a wife, he said, there were many unmarried women of the right age in
camp. I knew that he was right.

Soon after this I became fond of a young woman named Gets A
Shield and married her. But she turned out to have a quick temper
and I grew tired of her. One day she caught me with another girl and
hit me. I did not strike back but walked to my tipi. She followed be-
hind, asking why I did not go to that other woman. Without answer-
ing I packed up my few belongings and went to live with my brother.
Later she became the wife of Curley, one of Custer's scouts.

After that I decided to obey our tribal rules. When I broke them
I never had any luck. During these years I looked for the woman
whose name I had heard in my vision. I married several times but my
happiness never lasted. Then one day, when I was married to a woman
who was bad-tempered and lazy, I entered a tipi and saw a young girl
with a child in her lap. Something inside me said that this was she. Her
eyes and beautiful hair were just as I had seen them and the parting
was also painted yellow. She was bashful and would not look at me.
She belonged to a large family, her parents and another family living
together in three tipis. Her father was a chief. She would not answer
when I asked her name. Then I told her that the Great Above Person
had given her to me to marry.

When I learned her name it meant something different from the one
in my dream, but there was little change in sound. I married her and
she has been my faithful woman for more than forty years. I am
raising a little orphan girl whose mother died a few years ago, and
have named her Comes Out Of The Water.

After marrying this woman I seemed to be more successful and
gained the respect of our people.

Then eleven of us went on a raid, riding down the Bighorn River
until we found a Sioux camp where we captured many horses. As we
were coming back we discovered another enemy camp near Dirt
River where it runs into Big River, and stole more horses. When we
finally rode into our village on the Musselshell River we drove over
fifty head before us. There was a big celebration over our success.
Among my six head was a fine black horse with which I won many
races in later years.

Chapter Twenty-Bight

About a year after the Crows signed the Fort Laramie treaty

of 1868, construction began on a sawmill, the new agency**

first building, near a mountain called Hide Flesher by the

Crows close to today's Livingston, Montana. Distribution of

such presents as yellow blankets 'was organized through

Fort Ellis, a few miles west. Soldiers escorted wagons to the

Yellowstone and the goods were issued on the river's

north bank. But by September iS6$ y Superintendent A. Sully

was lamenting the new agent's delay and the absence of nearly

2,000 Mountain Crows who were south

on their winter hunt.

When Agent E. M. Camp and his steamboat-load of annuity

goods clothing, food y and agricultural supplies finally did

arrive from Fort Bent on, the new man found problems on

his hands. The River Crows, whom he tried to persuade to

leave their temporary residence with the Atsina and

Assiniboines and move south permanently, were being

taunted by the Sioux: "We are rich and ride fat horses and

have plenty y while you are friends to the whites and are poor

and have no horses" And at home the Mountain Crows showed

little inclination for the "arts of civilization"

AFTER RETURNING from that raid "when we stole horses from the two
camps we stayed along the Musselshell and Elk rivers, and all the
time I remained in camp. Chokecherry-ripening time was coming
and one day I visited my medicine father. We did not talk while
smoking, but afterward he called me his son and told me not to
leave camp until another war party returned with a man killed. Its

177

warriors would ask me a favor which I must do. He advised me to
alert my friends about this.

A few days later a war party with Big Shoulder as pipeholder rode
quietly into camp and soon we heard wailing. As I left my tipi I saw
Weasel Sits Down's wife sticking a knife into her head and gashing
her arms and legs, leaving a trail of blood wherever she walked.
When she tried to cut off her finger end her relatives took away the
knife. Her husband had been Big Shoulder's brother. But the pipe-
holder had not acted properly and Weasel Sits Down had been
killed. 1 Now Big Shoulder went into the hills to mourn.

An agency had already been built near the present town of Living-
ston and it was time to pick up our annuity goods. While on our way
Sees The Living Bull told me that the night before he had dreamt of
a blanket rising into the air and falling in a coulee. He had also heard
a woman crying. If something happened in camp, he said, I was not to
go because there would be fighting.

We reached the agency, received our annuity goods, and enjoyed
many dances and feasts. A few days later we moved downriver and
camped near a creek. The next morning as I went for my horses I no-
ticed someone galloping toward camp. Upon returning I learned that
Sioux had stolen horses the night before and two men who had chased
the thieves had been killed.

Until now I had acted as I had wanted. But I had met with such
bad luck that now I followed my medicine father's advice and did not
go out. Some men returned late that night and said that after they had
seen their friends killed they had surrounded the Sioux, killing two
before they escaped.

The following morning I did something foolish and looked at the
bodies of our men. Rawhide had tried to strike a man with his coup
stick but was shot down before he got close. Coyote had been killed
when he rode too near. Both were well liked and our camp mourned
again,

I was invited to my medicine father's tipi the next morning along
with Crooked Arm, Two Belly, and some older men. When I arrived
Sees The Living Bull motioned for me to sit and, after our smoke, said
that the time was near for what he had seen, that soon we would be
painting our faces black. He told me to have my wife sew some extra
moccasins, to get my horse ready, and to check my gun and ammuni-
tion. I was to be ready to start the morning after the pipe had been

offered to me. In the meantime he would build me another sweat lodge
from one hundred and four willows.

Then he took a willow twig, bent it into a hoop, and tied on seven
eagle feathers in a fan shape. After painting them black he offered
this to the sky, praying to the Great Above Person that I would meet
the enemy and have good luck.

Once I had accepted the pipe from Big Shoulder he said I would
have to do whatever he asked. There was more talking during that
gathering, most of it about the recent bad happenings.

Each day I expected Big Shoulder but ten days later he offered his
pipe to Long Otter. He accepted and moved his followers some dis-
tance from the main camp to perform his medicine ceremony in
private. When Sees The Living Bull heard of this he said that if Big
Shoulder approached me with the same offer I should refuse, but to
prepare my own raid.

Soon we heard that Long Otter and some men and even women
were leaving. When I told my medicine father he said there was no
hurry, that when the time came he would tell me. After Long Otter's
party had left, he said, I would kill a man and return safely. He had
dreamt of enemies moving along the lower reaches of the Mussel-
shell River and promised to tell me when they got close. Now he
located them camped among the first pine trees close to the Bull
Mountains.

The next day Sees The Living Bull said that he had dreamt of a
shining light near Elk River, where Park City now stands. I was to
go beyond that place. My war party would have to be small because
so many had joined Long Otter. He said that today I should announce
I was ready.

A number of men asked to join. Before sunrise the following day
Sees The Living Bull and his wife came singing to my tipL She carried
a flannel blanket. I remember their song: "It is getting spring now.
Thank you."

While they waited outside Sees The Living Bull called my name
and asked if I saw that big scalp. He had dreamt again and had seen
a long black scalp falling from the sky. I sang my medicine father's
song which I loved to hear. It was very powerful and I had often
used it to help me out of dangerous situations. This way Sees The
Living Bull had given me his dream and I had thanked him with his

song.

179

When they entered my tipi I gave him the seat at the back, across
from the entrance. After we had smoked he told me not to worry that
the pipe had not been offered to me. Now, he said, we would have
to be satisfied with a smaller success, but would still paint our faces
black.

He told me to start at dawn the next day, to travel on the river's
other side, and to stop for the first night at a place he would indicate
later. Then I was to cross Where They Ran Away From Camp Creek
where I would have a vision of a big eagle carrying a long-haired man
in its claws. When I had traveled to Painted Blanket Creek I would
see the eagle drop the body. As I neared Flat Butte, close to the present
site of Park City, I should take the blanket he had brought and spread
it out. Then I was to place a necklace he would give me around my
neck, open my medicine, and sing the songs he had taught me. After
that I should hold the medicine up to my eyes and look under it for
a further vision. Before reaching this place I would see some deer
running through the brush and was to kill one and skin it. He said
that when I performed this medicine ceremony I should also spread
that deer hide before me.

Then he handed me his straight medicine pipe 2 and his own insignia
which he had carried on raids in his younger days. For some time I
had been a pipeholder, but I had never been trusted with such power-
ful things and felt too proud to speak. I promised myself not to shame
him in any way. Holding the pipe in iny hand I prayed to the Great
Above Person that all my future trails would be successful.

Over seventy men, more than I had expected, rode out with me
at first light. I sang as I led them, certain that we would return with
our faces painted black. Following my medicine father's instructions
I crossed to the northern bank of Elk River and traveled slowly
through the valley. Since the first day's ride was short we would stop
and smoke. As we approached our camping place I sent men ahead to
kill a few buffalo, start a fire, and make a brush shelter. Upon ar-
riving we ate, smoked, and slept until dawn.

Everything happened as Sees The Living Bull had said. The next
day we arrived at the place where he had told me to open my medicine
bundle, so I prepared a temporary camp. When we discovered that
Long Otter and his party were camped within sight I forbade anyone
to visit them. Big Shoulder was in that band and I told my men that
if he came around he was to be told that I did not want to see him
or speak to him. Some of Long Otter's men visited us that evening
180

and I tried to leam their leader's plans, but they said they knew
nothing.

I told my men to sit in a circle and took my place at the western
end. One Blue Bead was on my right and I asked him to light my pipe.
After smoking I gave it to the man on my left No one talked while
it passed around.

I spread out the blanket Sees The Living Bull had given me. Earlier
in the day we had seen some deer and I had sent two men to kill one.
Now I spread its skin over the blanket. Laying my war medicine
bundle on it I built a little smudge. After everyone had smoked I
purified my hands in the sweet-grass smoke and began unwrapping
my bundle. When I had finished I picked up a little paint bag filled
with sacred red paint and painted a red circle around my face with
my right index finger. Then I reddened my eyelids and painted a red
streak across my mouth. I told my men that I wanted them all to
shout after my war medicine song: "When the geese come back, I
know the country where I am going."

They shouted and clapped their hands to their mouths. I blew my
eagle-bone whistle and raised my medicine to my eyes. When some-
one asked what I saw I said an enemy track leading into tall pine
trees and a large flying eagle with a man's body in its claws. The
man's feet dangled in the air and a robe which had been wrapped
around his body fell among the pines on Painted Blanket Creek. After
a day's travel, I said, we would head for that place.

Then I had camp moved to Where They Ran Away From Camp
Creek not far away. Early the following morning I opened the medi-
cine-pipe bundle Sees The Living Bull had given me and told all the
warriors to sit in another circle. The man on my right lit the pipe,
and after I smoked it was passed around until it was smoked out. I
chose scouts and made them promise to report only what they actu-
ally saw. They replied that they had smoked with me, meaning they
could not lie. Then they rode ahead, each wearing the wolfskin cap
which was his badge.

I had told them to wait at a certain place if they saw no enemies.
But about the middle of the day we heard their howls and soon saw
them, waving their guns over their heads. I quickly ordered my men
to pile dried buffalo chips in front of me and then we sat in a circle.

The scouts jumped off their ponies, lacked over the chips, and
waved their guns again. The kicking meant they would tell the truth
and the waving of their guns meant enemies. After sitting on my left,

181

where a place had been kept, they asked for a smoke. I lit the filled
pipe and passed it to the scout on my left. While it went around the
chief scout told me that they had spotted a Sioux on horseback
looking for game on a hillside. They thought this meant a large war
party was camped nearby. After their report the scouts returned to
keep watch through the night.

The next morning we ate dried meat because we did not want to
light a fire, then joined the scouts. One met us at the foot of some
hills to say that Sioux were camped on the other side. The night before
they had not rested until they had counted the tipis. Leaving our
extra horses tied to some branches with helpers to guard them, we
followed him up to a wooded ridge.

The other scouts were lying at different points, hidden by sage
bushes held in front of them. I dismounted and crawled to the chief
scout. Just then four hunters left the Sioux tipis, riding straight for
our ridge. Crawling back to my horse, I told my men to prepare their
medicines and unwrapped my own. After singing my medicine song
I blew the war whistle which was part of my bundle. When One
Blue Bead told me not to whistle too loudly I said that my medicine
father had told me the enemy would look up for a bird and not see
us coming.

I whistled again, prayed to the Great Above Person, and sang a
medicine song: "Big Bird Above is kind to us. I am watching toward
the enemy. All enemies will easily be influenced. It is easy."

Then I raised my medicine to my eyes. Under it an enemy body
hung in the sky. Our scouts made signs that the hunters were within
gunshot. My men had tied on their medicines and had painted their
faces with their personal sacred colors. We dismounted and crawled
to watch them ride closer. I wore only my breechcloth and moccasins
and carried my medicine pipe and bundle on my back. As I began
running forward with my gun I bent low. Looking up, I saw the
four Sioux about twenty steps away. One carried a robe over his
gun; I recognized the man who had fallen from the sky. As I shot him
I called to my men to attack. The other Sioux tried to get away when
they saw him fall. He bent down to pick up his gun but did not
have enough strength. High Hawk was a step behind me and ran up.
Blood pouring out of his mouth and nose, the Sioux tried to draw his
knife. But High Hawk clubbed him to death with his gun butt and
scalped his whole hair. Cutting it into three pieces, he gave one to me
and one to Pretty Tail who had joined us.
182

The rest mounted to chase the other three Sioux and quickly re-
turned with one scalp. During a short council some suggested keep-
ing after them but I said we did not have enough fast horses to risk
approaching their camp. Besides, we did not know how many men
were in their tipis. I told them that I wanted to return singing victory
songs and have the women dance for us so our last defeat would be
forgotten.

A few days later we drew near our village. Long Otter and his
band also seemed to have come back successfully because we heard
drums and singing as we stopped for the night. But I was proud of
our raid and this did not bother me.

At dawn I led the men into camp, carrying a pole with my piece of
scalp waving from the end. Those who had counted coup came first,
the ones with pieces of the two scalps followed, and the rest rode
behind.

Some of us were singing our medicine songs and the people received
us with shouting. Then there were days full of feasting and singing
and dancing. Everywhere I heard my name called out as a successful
pipeholder. I had achieved what I had fought for, and \ was proud.

Chapter

Except for an incident in autumn, 2887, the Crows 'were

'well known for their peaceable demeanor toward whites.

Accounts describe white men raising their guns at the approach

of mounted Indians, and lowering them in relief when the

warriors formed their palms into flapping wings sign

language for Crows.

While the Government never heeded the repeated suggestions

of its agents to arm the Crows, for their own good and to

protect settlers from Sioux hostiles, it did hire them to perform

scouting and courier duties. Crows accompanied General

George Crook on the Rosebud River, General Nelson Miles

against the Sioux and Bannocks, General John Gibbon against

the Sioux, and General Oliver Howard in his pursuit

of the Nez Perces.

The one exception began with the return of a successful

war party led by a half-Crow, half-Bannock upstart named

Wraps Up His Tail, or Swordbearer. When Agent H. Williamson

burst into the celebrating crowd surrounding his government

domicile, a wild shot passed over his head. Before his order to

arrest the boistrous warriors could be carried out, the insurgents

had fled to the mountains. A month later, after the group

had surrendered, the twenty -four-year-old rebel, three

followers, and one Army corporal were killed in a small melee.

SHORTLY AFTER THE CXJSTER BATTLE we were camped above the present
town of Forsyth. One day I noticed a soldier in buckskins ride up to
Two Belly's tipi and a little later the crier rode through the village,
announcing that scouts were wanted for the army chasing the Sioux
184

and Cheyennes. Two Belly sent a messenger asking me to his tipi.
When I arrived some younger men were already there. Two Belly said
that the Sioux and Cheyennes were all over our hunting places and
that we should help the soldiers drive them back to their own country.
Some of us might be killed, but he said that would not be as bad as
having our land taken, losing our horses, or living in constant danger,
I was doing nothing and told him I could leave any time. About thirty
of us offered to join the soldiers. The soldier in buckskins wanted us to
come with him immediately, so Two Belly had the crier tell us to
bring in our horses.

The sun was down by the time we left. About the middle of the
night we rode into the soldiers' camp and were given a good meal of
buffalo meat. It was the first time I tasted coffee and I liked it. We ate
fast and mounted again, accompanying the soldiers up Elk River to
the mouth of the Rosebud River. On the other side the main soldiers'
camp looked like a gathering of several large tribes. 1 A soldier rode
toward us and handed a note to our guide, who then told us to follow
him. Riding into the middle of that big camp I wondered if all the
United States soldiers were there. It was dawn and we were tired and
hungry. After being given some meat, crackers, and more coffee, we
spent the remainder of the day resting. I was lying on the ground half
asleep when a strange noise made us all jump up. We had never heard
a bugle before.

A few moments later two soldiers with marks on their sleeves asked
for two scouts to ride up the Rosebud River toward the hills and de-
liver a note to another group of soldiers. They explained that since our
horses were tired they would give us fresh mounts. I was standing close
to these soldiers and understood what they meant. Although I hoped
they would not call me they must have already decided because after
asking for Spotted Horse they spoke my name. I pretended to be
asleep. The soldier waited a moment, looked at his paper, and spoke
my name again. I stood up and walked over.

Spotted Horse and I were told that the soldiers were a day's ride
up the river. A big brown horse and a bay were led out to us and
Spotted Horse chose the brown. Both were beautiful and in the best
condition and I did not care which I rode. When we left at sunset a
few soldiers accompanied us but soon turned back. It quickly grew
dark and since we had been told not to stop we rode until dawn, when
we spotted a soldier on a hilltop. He rode down and after we gave him
the note he led us to his camp.

185

Then we ate a good meal and rested until the middle of the day,
when three more scouts rode in from different directions. There was
no interpreter, so we did not find out what was happening. The
officer in charge called us to his tent and made us understand that we
could return to the other camp at sunset. We slept until the bugle
made us jump again and a soldier handed us another note to take
back. Once more some soldiers escorted us a little distance.

Then we were riding alone in the night. When the moon rose there
was enough light to gallop. Although no enemies had been reported
we were still careful. Before dawn, as we came close to the camp, I
noticed that my horse did not seem to feel rny quirt and told Spotted
Horse that we should rest. After picketing our horses in some thick
grass along the river bottom we slept until sunup.

I woke first and went for the horses. The bay seemed fine but the
big brown horse was dead. Spotted Horse could hardly believe it. It
must have been too fat. We ate some of the soldiers' food we had been
given and rode double slowly. As we approached the camp a soldier
lookout rode down the hill and accompanied us.

We were taken to the commanding officer and through an inter-
preter I told him that we had been ordered to ride hard and that one
horse had died. We were afraid he might be angry but he said that
horses and men must die sometime and since it was dead to forget it.

Spotted Horse and I felt better and thanked him. We stayed there
that night and the next morning the bugle frightened me again. We
built a cooking fire and, while we were eating, a soldier came over to
explain that there was no more danger from the enemy and that we
could go. He gave us a large quantity of meat for the trip back. We
were glad to be going home and started singing as soon as we were
out of the camp. On the trail we killed two deer and arrived at our
tipis on the banks of Tullock Creek long after dark with plenty of
meat.

I rested a day before riding over to Two Belly's camp, which had
moved to the mouth of the Bighorn River. After I told him what had
happened he said that whenever possible I should help the soldiers
kill Sioux. If they were not driven off, the land we wanted for our
children would be stolen. He said that long ago, when the Sioux had
come from the south, we had moved to the Big River country. When
other enemies had threatened us from the north we had moved west.
All we wanted, he said, was to be left alone. But we must always be
on our guard and always carry guns.
186

We helped the white man so we could own our land in peace. Our
blood is mixed in the ground with the blood of white soldiers. We did
not know they were going to take our land. That is what they gave
us for our friendship.

Chapter thirty

Although by 1875 all the River Crows were at the Livingston

agency and had promised to remain through the following

winter, the tribe never -felt at home there. The site was too -far

from hunting grounds and sources of timber, too vulnerable

to enemy attack. That same year the agency was removed

to fifteen miles south of the Yellowstone River on Rosebud Creek.

Despite heavy Sioux raiding, twelve buildings were erected. Yet

this area also did not satisfy the Crows. They considered the

land unsuitable for farming and complained of the huge cattle

drives heading for the Union Pacific Railroad in southern

Wyoming. And the agents themselves were worried about

the proximity of whiskey peddlers.

In 1880, when the Crows yielded to the Government a

i ,300,000-acre slice of their reservation, the remaining land

was allotted to individuals. Payment for the partition was to be

through yearly amounts earmarked for domestic improvements.

Then the Crows entered into another treaty granting right

of way along the Yellowstone to the Northern Pacific Railroad.

But it was not until April 1884 that the shift began to the third

and final agency on the Little Bighorn River 7 the first of the

new inhabitants being those Crows who had made

some gains in farming.

ABOUT THREE YEARS after the battle of the Little Bighorn River we
were camped on the banks of the Bighorn River just south of the pres-
ent site of Hardin. Already there were fewer buffalo on the plains and
we had to move frequently to feed ourselves. From there we traveled
to Elk River, camped briefly close to the Mountain Lion's Lodge,
and then moved slowly to Arrow Creek. Soon we moved to Fly Creek
188

and then into the Bighorn Valley. We needed hides for our tipis and
a returning war party told of more herds near the Bighorn Mountains.
After hunting there the chiefs announced that the men were to cut
dpi poles in the mountains and no one could leave camp for any other
reason. When we cut enough we returned to Arrow Creek, and then
Two Belly, Goes Around, and their followers decided to head toward
Big River while the main camp wintered near the Arrowhead Moun-
tains. I followed Two Belly and on our way we pitched our tipis
along the Musselshell River for a few days.

My medicine father was in Two Belly's camp and invited me to his
tipi. After our usual smoke and talking about different things he said
he had made me another medicine. Then he unwrapped a bundle,
smudged it, sang a song, and told me to look under it. When I did
this he pointed, asking if I saw about a hundred head of horses. I said
I could not see them. He said he had been given those horses in a dream
and told me where to find them once winter set in.

Medicine Crow and ten others said that when the time came they
wanted to join me. For some reason our camp did not make the move
to Big River but traveled farther west along the Musselshell. Every
day I visited Sees The Living Bull and he promised to tell me when
to leave. Then the first snows fell and one day he said he had dreamt
again. I told my friends to be ready at sunup, but wanted them first
to help me build a large sweat lodge of one hundred and four willows.
Along with Sees The Living Bull I invited several chiefs and medicine
men. While we took our bath they prayed for us at the entrance.

At dawn we rode out of camp. The snow was ankle deep and the
weather very cold. Reaching Big River we rode along its southern
shore, building brush shelters each night. Once I dreamt of a man
standing beside my bed. As I stared he asked if I saw a black horse
and a gray with some blood marks on its side. He told me to hurry
because the enemy had left the gray behind and it was mine.

When I woke it was still dark. I told niy companions about the
horses and had them prepare a meal As we started to ride, black
clouds were rushing across the sky and the air was filled with little
bits of snow which cut our faces. The snowfall grew heavier and we
stopped to build a brush shelter near Where The Bear Sits Down
Mountain.

Then a full blizzard was blowing and we stayed in that shelter for
two days. The morning of the third day broke cold and clear, but
before leaving I sent a scout to the mountaintop. When the sun was

189

in the middle he returned to report a large Sioux camp just across
Big River. Leading my men around the mountain to the south I found
both banks of the river solid sheets of ice. Towards the middle, big ice
blocks tumbled downstream. I told my men that if we stole the
horses my medicine had promised they could never follow us back
across. Tonight, I said, we would hide in the thick woods and to-
morrow we would cross.

It was cold and quiet as we sat around a low fire listening to the
Sioux drums. Early the next morning I was looking for a place to
cross. After leading my men around a bend, Medicine Crow and I cut
two long poles and built a raft big enough to carry our clothes, weap-
ons, and medicines. Then we attached two thongs, broke the ice along
the bank, and pushed it in. When I jumped into the water it was so
cold I could hardly breathe. Someone handed me a rope and I tried
to pull my horse while the men on shore whipped it. It reared and
tugged back but finally we got it in. Medicine Crow followed and we
each pulled on his horse until it reared backward into the river. Then
we were suddenly going with the current and struggling for the
other side. Medicine Crow called out for me to hang onto my rope
or we would both drown. But the water made me too numb to answer.
Then one huge ice cake seemed about to hit us or cut us off from
our raft. The Great Above Person and my medicine must have heard
my prayers because a current turned it from the raft. We had to push
smaller blocks out of our way but finally reached the northern shore.
The ice was too thick to break and the water here seemed more
powerful, almost pulling us, the raft, and our horses under the sheets
lining the bank. But as we were carried along I felt gravel, and when
I walked up, the water was to my waist. Medicine Crow and I climbed
onto the ice, still holding the raft's thongs. When we got the horses'
forefeet on the edge their weight broke it and we repeated this until
they had cut a way for themselves to the bank.

We were too cold to feel anything and our horses were shivering.
Leading them into the thick trees we built a fire and put on the dry
clothes we had wrapped up on the raft. Then we brought the horses
close to the fire and rubbed them with dry hay. After eating some of
the meat we had brought, we mounted. The river had carried us a
little distance down from the Sioux camp. Finally we tied our horses
to some trees at the base of a high hill and climbed up to judge
its size. No Sioux were riding in our direction. When we returned
to our fire it was the middle of the day and the sun felt warm. Our
190

men had built two rafts and now they floated across while Medicine
Crow and I took turns watching the camp.

When we were all together I told them to take out their medicines
and paint themselves. I unwrapped the medicine Sees The Living
Bull had given me of a big hawk's head and tail. Then I made another
smudge of white pine needles and sang my medicine song: "There is
another thing I am going to get."

Holding the hawk's head in my left hand and the tail in my right
I raised and lowered them over the smudge. As I looked under them
I said that my medicine had shown me those horses and asked it to
help me get them tonight.

Someone asked me to lend him the hawk's head, promising me a
good horse if he captured any. I tied it to his hair and wore the hawk
tail fastened to the back of my own head.

The sun was down by the time we began riding toward their camp.
As I led them north of the camp, where the land was cut with deep
coulees, the snow was up to our horses' knees. Coming upon a bunch
of horses we rounded them up and I left two guards. We ran into an-
other bunch and when we had them surrounded I chose seven men
to drive all the horses toward the Wolf Mountains without waiting
for us.

Then I heard a Sioux crier announcing something and was sure they
had discovered us. But when drums began and women started singing
we knew it was only a celebration. Medicine Crow and I and a man
whose name I have forgotten rode toward the village to cut horses
picketed in front of the tipis. As we crossed a path worn down by
horses going to their feeding grounds we saw a small group of horses
ahead. While I rode on, Medicine Crow and the other man rounded
them up. But I ran into more and drove them back without any
trouble.

We had captured over a hundred head, the night was still early, and
we had a good chance to get away. It would bring me greater honors
to lead them safely back without having killed a man, and I did not
want to spoil this. I felt that my medicine had kept the Sioux's atten-
tion off their horses.

We did not return to our morning camp site, but turned north into
the hills and made a wide circle westward, leaving a good distance
between us and the village. We galloped all that night, reaching the
Wolf Mountains just before daybreak. Coming over a high ridge, we
saw in the distance the rest of our men with the other horses.

191

Then all of us rode through the next day and night, changing
mounts often. We did not eat or sleep until we reached Big River
early in the morning and immediately built rafts for our clothes, weap-
ons, and two men too tired to swim. Medicine Crow and I waited
until last, keeping the horses from climbing back up the bank. When
everything was on the other side we crossed. Then I was not so
afraid the Sioux would catch us and built a fire to warm ourselves
and dry our clothes. Later we came upon a small buffalo herd and
I sent four men on good buffalo runners to kill four. That night we
ate roasted ribs, and cooked enough for the trip back.

Now there was no danger of being overtaken and we all felt good.
As I rode I thought of the celebration waiting for us and of the praise
I would receive for being leader. I pictured the older men leading me
through camp, singing songs about me, and calling out my name. I
was so happy I sang my medicine song: "Anywhere I go, I thank
you."

The bunch of horses running before us looked so fine I could not
help myself and sang my song again.

We found our camp on the other side of Heart Mountain on Plum
Creek. As we came into sight and fired our guns everyone came out
to greet us. We rode into the center of camp, the women started to
dance and sing, and some men pulled out their drums. Thirty-three
horses were mine and each man also had a good bunch. When our
story was told I received more praise than ever before.

Years later I learned that we had captured those horses from Sitting
Bull's camp on its way to Canada. 1

192

Chapter Thirty-One

Although the Crows were starting to live in permanent

homes, till their fields, and send their children to schools, they

continued raiding. Wrote Agent H. Williamson in 1886, "With

the Cronus much trouble is occasioned. They desire to pursue

the thieves and retaliate in kind, which is very natural. . . ."

A year later, the Swordbearer incident occurred. In 2888,

Tiuo Leggings undertook this revenge trail against the Sioux,

supposedly the last Crow war party. A letter -from the

Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1887 to a ^ ^ s agents had

done much to halt these raids by prohibiting intertribal visits

and outlawing absences from the reservation without

government permission.

Crows did not like to speak of the following years. As Two

Leggings recalled his people's feelings during the thirty - five-year

interval until his death, "their hearts were on the ground" By

1923 the reservation was roughly a third its original acreage and

the Crow population had dropped to 2,7*72. The scarred warriors

tried to farm their allotted lands, but they lived in their

memories* Two Leggings welcomed his approaching death

and told Wildschut, "Soon I shall live again those days of which

I now only dream, soon I shall hunt the buffalo"

THREE YEARS BEFORE THIS HAPPENED the Government forbade our
raids, but sometimes a man gathered a party and sneaked away. I was
already living in a more permanent camp on the Bighorn River where
I later built my house. The buffalo were gone and we received weekly
annuities from Fort Custer, built on a ridge top across the river from
my ripi. It was early summer and the rivers were swollen, but the
soldiers had made a ferry. 1

193

One ration day Pretty Old Man, who was camped with us, and I
arranged to cross the ferry and then ride to the ration house. I went
to choose a horse from my herd grazing along the timbered bottom
that lines the Bighorn .River. After catching one I rode toward the
low ridge bordering the western valley wall, wondering if Pretty
Old Man's horse had strayed. Usually it did not take him this long.

Reaching the crest of a coulee I saw him sitting on the ground not
far away. As he made signs for me to stop he shouted that someone
had stolen his horses and that their tracks led north.

My wife had followed behind me. When she caught up I told her
to ride to the ferry and tell our friends that I was leading a raid, even
if I had to go into Piegan country.

After she left, Pretty Old Man and I rode double back to my horses.
I caught a fast, long-winded horse for him and we returned to my
home to collect our medicines and weapons. Pretty Old Man's wife
and children were crying inside his tipi. It had become almost impos-
sible to replace horses.

On the way to the ferry we met One Leg, White Clay On The
Forehead, and Eagle riding to meet us. Four inexperienced men with
them were very eager to chase the enemy. All lived close by and went
for their weapons and medicines. When they returned we found
enemy tracks on a ridge leading into the Pine Ridge Hills. Farther
on we stopped so I could scan the country with my telescope and
see if any more were joining us, but I saw no one. When we
stopped again to rest our horses and dry our saddlecloths Pretty Old
Man, who had hung behind, rode up crying over his horses. Putting
his arms around my neck he asked me to make medicine so we could
catch them. I said I would try to cut them off, but promised that
if I could not locate them we would keep on their trail.

I had Pretty Old Man fill and light my pipe while I unwrapped my
medicine. Then I took it from him and drew several times, pointing
the stem towards the enemy each time and asking it to smoke them
to sleep so I could prepare my ambush. I spoke to the One Up There
In The Sky and said he had taught me to do this. I asked him to help
as he had many times before.

When I asked White Clay On The Forehead which earth creatures
move very slowly he said that one of the slowest was the beetle that
rolls manure into little balls and pushes them along the ground.

I said he was right and had a man find me one. Making a smudge
and building a little earth bank across the enemy trail, I took the
194

beetle and waited for it to crawl over. I showed Pretty Old Man
how it fell backward each time it tried.

Then I made another smudge of white pine needles and held my
medicine in it. After singing my medicine song and blowing my
whistle I lifted the medicine to my eyes. The second time I blew my
whistle I moved the medicine up and down. Something white was
thrown into the air and fell into some rose bushes which grew in a
certain place along Elk River. I told my men the enemy was sleeping
in Elk River Valley and we would take a shorter route.

One Leg asked me to let them rest a little longer. While I was
making medicine he had noticed three more friends racing to meet us.
Pretty Old Man was still walking around crying and I told him that
he had seen me make medicine, that we would find his horses in Elk
River Valley not far from the Mountain Lion's Lodge.

When Buffalo Calf, Fence, and Bird Fire joined us we left the
northern trail and rode west toward the present town of Toluca.
From there we went to Fly Creek, which we followed to Elk River,
keeping away from the rough Pine Ridge Hills.

The railroad had already been built and a section house stood where
we finally came out of a creek bottom, close to the present town of
Ballantine. 2 1 halted the men to point out the grove where I had seen the
blanket fall, about four miles away. We were hidden by the trees
around the section house.

Then an eagle rose from the grove, dropped to the ground near us,
and sat for a moment before heading toward the mountains. I told my
men the eagle had told me Piegans were in those trees and now it was
flying home. We rode quietly until someone spotted horses tied to
bushes. But the three men I sent after them woke the Piegans, who
burst out as if crazy. One took his gun but left his cartridge belt and
knife behind; the other two stumbled into the undergrowth along the
river. I noticed one wore a white blanket like the man in my vision.

After all our stolen horses were rounded up we mounted fresh. One
Leg started ahead, yelling that since he was a cripple he might as well
die now. I called him back to wait until I had gathered all the men in
a tight bunch and ridden around them singing my medicine song.
Then I unwrapped my medicine and saw under it another vision of
the falling white blanket. The other men had also unwrapped their
bundles and now each fastened his to his hair or wherever it was re-
quired to go.

Thunder sounded from the west and I knew they might escape if

195

One ration day Pretty Old Man, who was camped with us, and I
arranged to cross the ferry and then ride to the ration house. I went
to choose a horse from my herd grazing along the timbered bottom
that lines the Bighorn .River. After catching one I rode toward the
low ridge bordering the western valley wall, wondering if Pretty
Old Man's horse had strayed. Usually it did not take him this long.

Reaching the crest of a coulee I saw him sitting on the ground not
far away. As he made signs for me to stop he shouted that someone
had stolen his horses and that their tracks led north.

My wife had followed behind me. When she caught up I told her
to ride to the ferry and tell our friends that I was leading a raid, even
if I had to go into Piegan country.

After she left, Pretty Old Man and I rode double back to my horses.
I caught a fast, long-winded horse for him and we returned to my
home to collect our medicines and weapons. Pretty Old Man's wife
and children were crying inside his tipi. It had become almost impos-
sible to replace horses.

On the way to the ferry we met One Leg, White Clay On The
Forehead, and Eagle riding to meet us. Four inexperienced men with
them were very eager to chase the enemy. All lived close by and went
for their weapons and medicines. When they returned we found
enemy tracks on a ridge leading into the Pine Ridge Hills. Farther
on we stopped so I could scan the country with my telescope and
see if any more were joining us, but I saw no one. When we
stopped again to rest our horses and dry our saddlecloths Pretty Old
Man, who had hung behind, rode up crying over his horses. Putting
his arms around my neck he asked me to make medicine so we could
catch them. I said I would try to cut them off, but promised that
if I could not locate them we would keep on their trail.

I had Pretty Old Man fill and light my pipe while I unwrapped my
medicine. Then I took it from him and drew several times, pointing
the stem towards the enemy each time and asking it to smoke them
to sleep so I could prepare my ambush. I spoke to the One Up There
In The Sky and said he had taught me to do this. I asked him to help
as he had many times before.

When I asked White Clay On The Forehead which earth creatures
move very slowly he said that one of the slowest was the beetle that
rolls manure into little balls and pushes them along the ground.

I said he was right and had a man find me one. Making a smudge
and building a little earth bank across the enemy trail, I took the
194

beetle and waited for it to crawl over. I showed Pretty Old Man
how it fell backward each time it tried.

Then I made another smudge of white pine needles and held my
medicine in it. After singing rny medicine song and blowing my
whistle I lifted the medicine to my eyes. The second time I blew my
whistle I moved the medicine up and down. Something white was
thrown into the air and fell into some rose bushes which grew in a
certain place along Elk River. I told my men the enemy was sleeping
in Elk River Valley and we would take a shorter route.

One Leg asked me to let them rest a little longer. While I was
making medicine he had noticed three more friends racing to meet us.
Pretty Old Man was still walking around crying and I told him that
he had seen me make medicine, that we would find his horses in Elk
River Valley not far from the Mountain Lion's Lodge.

When Buffalo Calf, Fence, and Bird Fire joined us we left the
northern trail and rode west toward the present town of Toluca.
From there we went to Fly Creek, which we followed to Elk River,
keeping away from the rough Pine Ridge Hills.

The railroad had already been built and a section house stood where
we finally came out of a creek bottom, close to the present town of
Ballantine. 2 1 halted the men to point out the grove where I had seen the
blanket fall, about four miles away. We were hidden by the trees
around the section house.

Then an eagle rose from the grove, dropped to the ground near us,
and sat for a moment before heading toward the mountains. I told my
men the eagle had told me Piegans were in those trees and now it was
flying home. We rode quietly until someone spotted horses tied to
bushes. But the three men I sent after them woke the Piegans, who
burst out as if crazy. One took his gun but left his cartridge belt and
knife behind; the other two stumbled into the undergrowth along the
river. I noticed one wore a white blanket like the man in my vision.

After all our stolen horses were rounded up we mounted fresh. One
Leg started ahead, yelling that since he was a cripple he might as well
die now. I called him back to wait until I had gathered all the men in
a tight bunch and ridden around them singing my medicine song.
Then I unwrapped my medicine and saw under it another vision of
the falling white blanket. The other men had also unwrapped their
bundles and now each fastened his to his hair or wherever it was re-
quired to go.

Thunder sounded from the west and I knew they might escape if

195

we did not kill them before the rain. Just as in my vision, we saw them
trying to hide in the bushes. We dismounted when we were within
gunshot, covering all three sides, the river at their backs. Buffalo Calf
remounted to ride over to me but was shot off his horse. When One
Leg ran from his tree the man with the white blanket shot but missed.
The second time I fired back I broke his gunstock and wounded
him. As he tried to run away I shot him in the back and he fell.

Then the rain poured so heavily we could hardly see the bushes. The
thunder was very loud and there was much lightning. We found shel-
ter, but when the storm was over it was too dark to follow.

The night grew so cold we went to the section house and asked the
man in charge if we could stay, making him understand that we were
Crows. He said it was all right if we carried in some firewood. We tied
our horses, leaving Pretty Old Man outside to guard them, built a fire,
brought in some firewood, and went to sleep. We were all very hun-
gry but had brought no food. During the night Pretty Old Man woke
me to say that two men were riding toward the section house. I joined
him outside, telling him to shoot if they approached our horses. As
they came onto the flat I saw they were two white men wearing hats.
We shared their hot tea, canned beef and tongue, and crackers, and
slept until dawn.

There was no need to be careful as we rode down river; whoever
had been left alive would be far away. Riding over to the bushes, I
found the Piegan's body. After scalping his whole head I cut it into
four parts, giving one to White Eye, one to Short Bull, and keeping
the other two. Also I carried away his rifle. We discovered that they
were Sioux and not Piegans. (Years later, after peace was made be-
tween all tribes, I learned that this man had been a chiefs son.)

When we returned to our camp we drove the captured horses
through the tipis and I carried my scalp pieces tied to the end of a
long pole. Soon the camp was alive, men brought out their drums, and
the women began the scalp dance. I led the singing: "Across the river
in those rough hills there is a scalp.' 5

Everyone joined in. For several days there was feasting and dancing.
I was invited everywhere and told the story over and over again.

We were happy. Now it seems so long ago. It all changed. The Gov-
ernment would not let us leave the reservation. We even had to have
special permission to hunt.

Shortly after this raid the commander at Fort Custer, whom we
called Lump Nose, sent for me. 3 I expected him to put me in prison,
196

but I still went. When I entered his room he stood up to shake my hand
and I felt better. He asked what had happened and after I had finished
he said that enemies had stolen my horses and I had got them back,
killing one of the thieves. He said I had done well. When he asked if
I wanted something to eat I said yes and he went to a bureau and took
out a coin. Saying he was my friend he told me to get something I
liked. Again he shook my hand and I thanked him. When I got out-
side I looked at the strange gift. But when I went to the store and
found all the things I could buy with the five-dollar gold piece, I
understood.

Nothing happened after that. We just lived. There were no more
war parties, no capturing of horses from the Piegans and the Sioux,
no buif alo to hunt. There is nothing more to tell.

197

Selected bibliography

CURTIS, EDWARD S. The North American Indian. 20 vols. Norwood,
Massachusetts: 1907-1930.

DENIG, EDWIN THOMPSON. Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri.
Edited and with an Introduction by John C. Ewers. Norman:
'University of Oklahoma Press, 1961.

LINDERMAN, FRANK BIRD. Old Man Coyote. New York: The John Day
Co., 1931.

. Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crows. Lincoln: University of Ne-
braska Press, 1962.
-. Red Mother. New York: The John Day Co., 1932.

LOWIE, ROBERT EL The Crow Indians. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc., 1956.

. Crow Texts. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of Califor-
nia, 1960.

. Indians of the Plains. Garden City, New York: The Natural

History Press, 1963.
-. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural His-

tory, New York:
The Material Culture of the Crow Indians. Vol. XXI, Part III,
1922.

Religion of the Crow Indians. Vol. XXV, Part II, 1922.

Social Life of the Crow Indians. Vol. IX, Part II, 1912.

MARQUIS, THOMAS EL Memoirs of a White Crow Indian. New York:

The Century Company, 1928.

WILDSCHUT, WILLIAM; and EWERS, JOHN C. Crow Indian Medicine
Bundles. (Contributions, Vol. XVII.) New York: Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1960.

198

Chapter One

1. Wildschut originally used "sleeps" for days, "moons" for months, and
"snows" for years. According to Crow informants Joseph Medicine
Crow and Roger Stops, only "moons" is accurate. If one wanted to say
how long it took to travel somewhere or to do something one would
use ba-ko-a, a short word referring to how many times the sun came
up. These present-day informants agree with Lowie's names for the
four seasons: winter, ba're; spring, bl'aivukase^; summer, bi'awakee^;
and autumn, base. Lowie adds that years were designated as "winters."
He corroborates Two Leggings' use of colorful phrases identifying
seasons: when the ice breaks, when the leaves sprout, when the berries
are ripe, when the leaves turn yellow, when the leaves fall, and when
the first snow falls. Specific years were remembered by some signifi-
cant event attached to them (Social Life of the Crow Indians, p. 242).

2. Since clans were exogamous one had to marry into a clan other than
one's own they could never be purely separate residential groups.
While Two Leggings or Wildschut would seem to mean here the
coming together of the three tribal divisions, Curtis does note the in-
dependence of certain clans, specifically the numerically strong "Whis-
tling Waters, who around 1850 would absent themselves from the main
body for long hunting expeditions and were probably an incipient
fourth tribal division (The North American Indian, Vol. IV, 1909,
P- 43)-

Chapter Two

i. No major figure in a Crow orphan myth bears the name of Bear White
Child. However, Wildschut obtained the skull medicine bundle of one
White Child (Crow Indian Medicine Bundles, pp. 79-80). Lowie men-
tioned the tooth from a White Cub, "the greatest of Crow Shamans"
(Religion of the Crow Indians, p. 420). Finally, Plenty Coups told

199

Wildschut of a famous skull medicine bundle of Bear White Child
which he had seen opened by Bear in The Water and Yellow Bull
(Wildschut, Unpublished Papers). Quite possibly an historical person-
age is being placed in the murky realm of Crow quasi-historical legend.

Chapter Three

1. The Blackfeet nation consisted of three bands. Ewers writes: "They
are the Pikuni or Piegan (pronounced Pay-gan'), the Kainah or Blood,
and the Siksika or Blackfoot proper, often referred to as the Northern
Blackfeet to distinguish it from the other two tribes. The three tribes
were politically independent. But they spoke the same language, shared
the same customs (with the exception of a few ceremonial rituals),
intermarried, and made war upon common enemies" (John C. Ewers,
The Blackfeet, Raiders of the Northwestern Plains [Norman: Uni-
versity of Oklahoma Press, 1958], p. 5).

2. When the Crows smoked to sanctify a get-together and assure the
speaking of truth, they usually filled the red-stone pipe bowls with
traders' tobacco mixed with the leaf of a certain ground vine called
opice. In recent times red willow bark is smoked (Lowie, The Material
Culture of the Croiv Indians, p. 234).

However, I found the old mixture still used, with Bull Durham sub-
stituted for traders' tobacco and a third ingredient of a few shavings
from a root traded from the Nez Perce added to each bowl.

3. Wildschut noted here: "During the last few moments of our talk a
close friend of Two Leggings, Bull Does Not Fall Down, had silently
seated himself next to me. When Two Leggings finished he spoke to
me, 'I was in camp when Shows His Wing's party returned and I re-
member how Two Leggings, then called Big Crane, was praised. He
did not tell me until many summers later that his words had not been
straight. But he had only been a boy and we laughed about it.' "

4. Curtis reports the custom in reverse: If one of your father's clan broth-
ers falls down before you it is necessary to say "Stop! Do not rise" and
to present him with a gift before he stands (The North American
Indian, Vol. IV, 1909, p. 24).

Chapter Four

1. Curtis described the Crows' first knives, which they obtained from the
Gros Ventres, as having blue-dyed bone handles (The North Ameri-
can Indian, Vol. IV, 1909, p. 46).

2. Unlike the Hidatsa and Mandan, the Crows did not employ the cup-
shaped bull boat for transporting men and supplies. Lowie describes

200

their two methods of water transportation: "In case of a small party
with horses, three sticks were arranged to form a triangle, or four to
make a rectangle, and a hide was spread over and fastened securely to
the edges. This raft was then towed by the horses. Larger parties made
their frame of parallel tipi poles with the required number of hides
over them, the cargo being put on top.

"The other method was to place several buffalo hides on top of one
another and run a gathering-string round the edge of the lowest one,
causing the robes to assume a globular form. The articles to be kept
dry were put in with a stone ballast and the skins were towed by means
of a line. In shallow water the tower pulled the contrivance by hand,
otherwise he swam holding the line between his teeth" (The Material
Culture of the Crow Indians, p. 219).

3. Plenty Coups remembers a famous Chief Long Horse who was killed
fighting Sioux sometime after the erection of Fort Maginniss, 1880
(Linderman, Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crows, pp. 278-284). Luther
S. Kelly remembered riding by "the funeral lodge of Long Horse, a
noted Crow chief who was killed at the head of his warriors while
charging hostile Sioux concealed in thick bush and timber," in the
summer of 1875 (Yellowstone Kelly, The Memoirs of Luther S. Kelly,
ed. by M. M. Quaife. [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1926] p.
117). And a Crow chief named Long Horse signed the 1873 agree-
ment for removal of their reservation to the Judith Basin, a treaty
which, incidentally, was never ratified.

According to the Crow agency records the only chief named
Crooked Arm was born in 1855, which would not only make him
about five years old when he attains here the position as head chief,
but would make him eight years old when, as a Sun Dance medicine
man, he guides Two Leggings through his first ordeal. Plenty Coups'
date would provide him with ample years to take over the office.

Untangling such discrepancies is impossible. Two Leggings' own
chronology of seasons pursuing seasons suffers four complete breaks
in sequence. Wildschut had little corroboratory data on hand to check
the discontinuous oral history. Agency records for such early years
are often quite incorrect. And, sometimes more than one individual
bore the same name.

4. Earlier, Two Leggings had named Grey Dog leader of the Kicked In
The Bellies. Whatever the reason for the shift now, Leforge agrees
that Sits In The Middle Of The Land was the leader of the Kicked In
The Bellies (Marquis, Memoirs of a White Crow Indian, p. 142).

Known to the whites as Blackfoot, he appears to have been the most
influential Crow policy maker in the third quarter of the nineteenth
century. Curtis describes him as "about six foot two inches in height,

2OI

proportionately heavy, and with muscles of a Hercules." He died about
1877 (Op. cit.,p. 51).

Chapter Five

i. There is no clear picture of the Crow pantheon. Wildschut and Curtis
seem to agree that the prime creator was called Starter Of All Things
(Wildschut, Crow Indian Medicine Bundles, p. i), First Worker, or
He First Made All Things (Curtis, The North American Indian, Vol.
IV, 1909, p. 52). Leforge told his biographer that the English transla-
tion of the Crow word for god was First Maker (Marquis, Memoirs
of a White Crow Indian, p. 134).

But a second term used by Leforge, Person Above (Marquis, Op. tit.,
p. 134), appears to be the one Wildschut says is a more recent desig-
nation, The Above Person With Yellow Eyes or The Great Above
Person (Op. cit., p, i). Lowie's The One Above is probably this deity
(The Crow Indians, p. 252).

It is generally agreed that the only term Plenty Coups gave Linder-
man for god, "Ah-bahdt-dadt-deah," is a relatively recent attempt to
approximate the white man's conception. Wildschut translates this
third name as He Who Does Everything (Op. cit., p. i); Lowie as
The Maker Of Everything (Op. cit., p. 252); and Linderman as The
One Who Made All Things (Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crows, p.

79)' , - *.

To further confuse matters Two Leggings prays, apparently indis-
criminately, to First Worker, his medicine person, the sun, Bear Above,
Great Above Person, and The One In The Sky. Lowie asked: "Is he
(the sun) or is he not equated with The One Above, whom the
Indians sometimes addressed in prayer? Probably so, but it is impos-
sible to tell with assurance. Is he the originator of the Indians and the
shaper of the earth? That, too, remains a problem .... There is a
real dilemma here. To treat the sun and Old Man Coyote as synony-
mous does indeed reserve for the single most eminent figure of ritual
the role of the creator. But it also saddles the sun with all the grossness,
the low cunning and lechery of the trickster [Old Man Coyote]"
(Op. cit., p. 252).

Linderman voices like confusion: "Their stories ... are often with-
out form to me, and I can understand why the sun and Old-Man, or
Old Man Coyote, have so often been confounded" (Old Man Coyote,
p. 13).

Curtis' definition of the sun as "his [He First Made All Things]
counterpart" (Vol. IV, 1909, p. 52) provides a possible explana-
tion. Lowie deduced that the Crows were "not philosophers but
opportunists" (Op. cit., p. 253). Old Man Coyote, the sun, and First
202

Worker were perhaps manifestations of the same being, each called
forth upon an occasion appropriate to its characteristics. Thus this
chapter's two creation stories are not mutually exclusive. When First
Worker effects the first creation of man it coincides with his creation
of the world and assumes an all-encompassing, epic tone. The second
origin-of-mankind tale, realized through the marital advice of Old
Man Coyote, has a more colloquial feeling and uses established Crow
cultural features, the rock spirit and the sacred tobacco plant, as if the
Crow ideological framework had existed in the absence of its adher-
ents. Wildschut heard the rock and tobacco version more than a year
before he was told the first, more common story; the same individual
could find a second version suitable, and not contradictory, upon a
different occasion. In the second story the emphasis is possibly on, as
Wildschut parenthetically noted: "The symbolic representation of the
everlasting and reoccuring fertilization of the inorganic with the or-
ganic life on earth."

2. The Crow sweat lodge is an oblong dome about six feet long, five feet
wide, and four feet high, built on an east-west axis. Its framework of
intertwined willow branches is covered with canvas or blankets. In the
middle of the lodge a small pit is dug. A large fire is built a few yards
from the eastern entrance of the lodge and in it stones are laid to heat.
When the bathers are inside a helper passes four red-hot stones into
the pit, one at a time, carrying them on forked sticks. Then the re-
maining stones are put into the pit and a bucket of water with a cup
is passed inside. After the door flap is dropped one of the bathers says
a prayer and pours four cups of water on the stones. Hot steam fills
the darkened interior. After a while the flap is raised to let in fresh
air. When it is closed a second time the "water chief" empties seven
cups on the stones; following another cooling-off period he pours ten
cups. After a final breather an indefinite number of cupfuls are poured,
called "million wishes." When the bathers have had enough the door
flap is raised a final time and they run for the river. Sometimes switches
of sage or buffalo tails are used within to bring the heat upon the body.
On more ceremonial occasions live coals are taken inside before any
water has been sprinkled. Pine needles or bear root shavings are laid
on them and prayers are spoken.

3. WUdschut noted that cannibalism was repugnant to the Crows. The
eating of the heart or liver of an enemy was never practiced, and
Crows believed that anyone who did this would have his mouth
twisted. "Eaten" stands for the absorption of the dead soul by the
winning clan.

4. Wildschut said this personage was called "Isteremurexposhe."

203

5. Wildschut gave this man's name as "Batseesh."

6. Two Leggings told Wildschut that the use of rock medicines depended
on the instruction the dreamer received. Some rocks were war medi-
cines, some helped to steal horses, others were used for doctoring or
simply to gain wealth and live a long life. Wildschut says that the
Crow name for rock medicine was bacorhse. He explains: "The same
name applied to all peculiarly-shaped rocks, and particularly to all
fossils [ammonites and baculites] found on the surface of the earth.
All rocks to which this term applies are sacred, but they are not all
considered medicine. This distinction is important, because all 'rocks'
that are considered medicine were first seen in dreams and visions"
(Op. cit., p. 90).

Chapter Six

1. In 1877 Fort Custer was built on a high mesa above the junction of
the Bighorn and the Little Bighorn rivers to stop the Sioux invasion of
the Yellowstone Valley.

2. Edward S. Curtis photographed a Blackfeet medicine-pipe carrier from
whose forehead protruded "the distinctive coiled hairdo of his station"
(The American Heritage Book of Indians [New York: American
Heritage Publishing Company, Inc., 1961] p. 332).

Chapter Seven

1. On the site of a temporary stockade erected in 1847, the trader Alex-
ander Culbertson built this adobe fort and christened it on Christmas
Day, 1850, in honor of the Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton.

2. Built in 1866 of adobe and logs as one of the posts to protect the
Bozeman trail, Fort C. F. Smith was burned to the ground in 1868
by Red Cloud's Sioux after the Government agreed that all country
east of the Bighorn Mountains was to be regarded as western exten-
sion of the Sioux's Dakota reservation.

3. Curtis says of the Crow camps: "Their customary camps were along
the mountain streams, where the lodges were commonly placed in
a circle, but at times, where the valley was narrow, they were close
together, paralleling the wooded watercourse" (The North Ameri-
can Indian, Vol. IV, 1909, p. 5). "The members of each clan camped
together" (Ibid., p. 25). But according to Lowie's data: "The camp
circle was not regularly employed by the Crow and there was no
definite arrangement of clans within it when it was used" (The Ma-
terial Culture of the Crow Indians, p. 222). Plenty Coups recalled
such a circle as a protective device: "The War-clubs [Lumpwoods]

204

selected a site In the Bighorn valley and ordered the village set up
in seven small circles, themselves making a great circle with the chief's
lodges pitched in the center. This arrangement was a warning to us
all that trouble was near, that our Wolves had seen something to be
afraid of" (Linderman, Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crows, p. 123).

Chapter Eight
i. Wildschut noted that he was unable to translate this name.

Chapter Nine

i. At this point Two Leggings interjected: "On a fast much later I
dreamt about the Sun Dance doll and therefore had the right to own
one of these bundles. Instead of making one I bought the bundle used
during this ceremony from Goes Around All The Time [Sees The
Living Bull]. Its first owner was a man I will call Has No Name and
soon after I acquired it Crooked Arm told me its history." Wildschut
notes that this bundle was known to have been used in at least four
Sun Dance ceremonies: those of Holds The Young Buffalo Tail, Puts
Earth On Top Of His Head, Shows His Face, and Sees The Living
Bull (Crow Indian Medicine Bundles, pp. 26-29).

Chapter Ten

1. This means the tobacco plant, the core of a most important Crow
ceremony. Two Leggings told Wildschut that he later used the To-
bacco society's adoption ceremony to gain Sees The Living Bull's
goodwill because he had heard this song.

Lowie identifies the plant as Nicotiana multivalvis and explains
that it was never smoked and was mystically associated with the stars
(The Crow Indians, p. 274). Around its sowing, cultivation, and har-
vesting were organized an indefinite number of societal chapters which
perpetuated themselves through elaborate adoption ceremonies.

2. This also happens to be the Crow word for east. Curtis says that the
Crows believed the sun descended into water, passed around to another
zenith, and then came out of the water (The North American Indian,
Vol. IV, 1909, p. 191).

Chapter Twelve

i. At this point Two Leggings commented: "I did not understand what
he meant. Later I realized that he was trying to tell me that I would
become a well-known chief. I also think he was telling me that one
day a white man would be sent to write my life in a book so that peo-

205

pie all over the earth would read my story. You are the one to tell
about my life and it will soon travel all over the earth."

Chapter Thirteen

1. Wildschut noted that among the Crows two or more men who had
been close friends and wished to strengthen this relationship could
make a complete exchange of weapons and clothing. From then on
they were "partners" and closer than brothers, sharing even their wives
and duty bound to come to each other's aid. Lowie says that this bond,
each becoming the other's Vrapcftse, could even affect the next genera-
tion. He adds that men who called each other by this term and shared
sweethearts would then call each other biru'pxekyata, "my little
father," the diminutive form of biru'pxe, which means father but was
never used in direct address (The Crow Indians, p. 42).

2. Lowie identifies this as the root of a plant belonging to the carrot fam-
ily (Leptotaenia multifida Nutt.). It is called ise, spelled esah by Wild-
schut, and was used as ceremonial incense and as a cure-all. Lowie was
told that its name referred to the fact that bears supposedly fatten on
it in winter (Ibid., p. 63).

3. The impression here is that the Belt Mountains lie north of the Mis-
souri, which is not so. Present-day River Crows, having lived almost
all their lives in the Mountain Crow region where their reservation
was established, have forgotten the Crow terms for locations in their
old northern homeland. Only guesses can be made for many of these
sites along the Missouri and northward which are named by Two
Leggings.

Chapter Fourteen

i. Speaking of Crow hair styles, Curtis observed: "The Absaroke, more-
over, greatly increased its natural length by working in other hair, so
that sometimes the strands were so long as to almost touch the ground.
Some of the men continued this fashion to within the last thirty years.
On ceremonial occasions many of the young men imitated this man-
ner of hair dressing by having many long locks fastened to a band worn
at the back of the head. Both the real hair and the introduced strands
were decorated from end to end with spots of red pigment" (The
North American Indian, Vol. IV, 1909, p. 23).

These red spots were actually balls of pitch which Lowie says were
matted into the inch-wide hair belts to keep the interwoven strands
which had been cut during mourning and saved from blowing about
(The Material Culture of the Crow Indians, p. 228).
206

2. See Note 2, Chapter Four.

3. When Plenty Coups saw a Plum Creek he was somewhere in the
Judith Basin, less than a morning's ride from a place he called Two
Buttes (Linderman, Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crows, p. 207). About
ten miles due east of the center of the Judith River's length is a present-
day settlement named Plum Creek. Two Leggings mentions Plum
Creek frequently, speaks of a trader at its head and mouth, and des-
cribes its running into the Missouri. Leforge remembers trading with
a man the Crows called "Blackbeard," Tom Bowyer, at his store at
Fort Browning "where the Judith flows into the Missouri" (Marquis,
Memoirs of a White Crow Indian, p. 60). The evidence indicates that
Plum Creek is the Judith River, generally in the center of old River
Crow territory.

Chapter Fifteen

1. Two Leggings paused to tell Wildschut: "She is still alive now, living
in Lodge Grass, the grandmother of No Horse."

2. It is doubtful whether Wildschut's term for what is more commonly
known among North American Indian tribes as "berdache," in Crow
bate, is biologically correct. Lowie says: "Anatomically a berdache is
said to be indistinguishable from male infants at birth, but as he grows
up his weak voice sets him off from other boys" (The Crow Indians,
p. 48). Most early accounts of the Crow note the existence of these de-
viates. They practised women's crafts, wore women's clothing, and
pretended to have men lovers. Lowie says that this duty of cutting the
first Sun Dance pole customarily fell to a berdache.

3. As Lowie explains this reluctance to ride the poles and the giving of
gifts: "The police were closely watching the crowd, for the young
braves now to be chosen for sitting on the logs tried to run away, since
the first four or, according to others, all twenty thereby assumed
the duty of never retreating from an enemy. So the young men would
take to their heels, but were pursued by die police or the Whistler's
kin, who rode fast horses. ... In any event, the kin of all the log-
straddlers put down before the young men such property as robes or
beadwork, and little sticks to symbolize horses as gifts. All went to
the Doll Owner, but after appropriating what he pleased he distrib-
uted the rest among the people who helped in the performances"
(Op. cit.,pp. 313-314).^

By naming the recipients of the gifts as the pole-riders' relatives,
Two Leggings is possibly meaning the clan aid upon which those rela-
tives will draw to fulfil the obligations described by Lowie.

207

Chapter Sixteen

i. Curtis identified Old Dog as a Mountain Crow who belonged to the
Lump wood military club. He lost many wives to the Foxes and once
had a hawk medicine reclaimed by its original owner because he
took back a stolen wife, a disgraceful exhibition of weakness (The
North American Indian, Vol. IV, 1909, p. 203).

Chapter Nineteen

i. Wildschut obtained from Cold Wind the original medicine bundle of
which this was a copy. Its contents tallied exactly with Two Leggings'
description, including the yellow-painted flute carved with representa-
tions of elk heads. Any Crow bundle depicting this animal and colored
yellow suggests love medicine, but Cold Wind told Wildschut that
although the bundle possessed that power it was never used as such.

Chapter Twenty -One

i. In Wagner and Allen's description of the post: "Hoskin and McGirl's
trading post, located just below Baker's battlefield, where the town of
Huntley now stands, was doing a thriving business. It was a horse
market, a chamber of commerce, a social center, the Mecca toward
which trails of all plainsmen eventually led" (Glendolin Damon
Wagner and Dr. William A. Allen, Blankets and Moccasins, Plenty
Coups and His People, the Cwivs. [Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton
Printers, Ltd., 1936] p. 167).

Chapter Twenty-Two

1. Wildschut noted that his medicine was probably obtained from a visit-
ing Nez Perce or Gros Ventre [Hidatsa].

2. Red Bear, whom Two Leggings earlier mentioned as the chief of the
Mountain Crows, is described by Curtis as a young leader of such
renown that he "covered up" the older men. Besides giving him the
power of prophecy, his medicine, the morning star, enabled him to
"hold back the coming day when it appeared inopportunely" (The
North American Indian, Vol. IV, 1909, p. 50).

Curtis says that he met his death in 1862, stubbornly confronting an
opposing force of Sioux and Cheyenne with only one other compan-
ion because he had been insulted by a fellow tribesman. The similarity
in medicine powers and his chief's status indicates this was the same
individual Two Leggings recalls, but then Curtis' date for his demise
208

would have to be a little early, since the events in this chapter occurred
circa 1869-70.

3. Curtis labels Iron Bull as "the richest man in the tribe," whose reputa-
tion came from his unusual generosity rather than his outstanding
battlefield behavior. A head chief, he died in 1886 (Ibid., p. 81).

Chapter Twenty -Three

i. When the wrappings on a scaffold burial wore away a relative would
sometimes take home the skull. On occasion the relative would also
have a dream in which the deceased would explain certain medicine
powers possessed by the skull and would prescribe the skull's care and
give associated songs and rituals. Usually these were the skulls of great
medicine men or of people who had the ghosts as their medicine.

The central object of this bundle is said to be the skull of Braided
Tail, one of the most famous Crow medicine men, who had lived five
or six generations before. The bundle became an oracle to its succes-
sive owners, informing them on raids of the proximity of an enemy
and telling them how many men would be killed at a certain location.
In time of famine it would instruct the owner where to find game. It
could tell a sick person if he were going to die or if he could be cured,
and it could locate lost property. After five years of negotiations
Wildschut purchased the Braided Tail bundle upon the death of its
last owner, Old Alligator (Crow Indian Medicine 'Bundles, p. 77).

Chapter Twenty-Four

i. This was probably the famous signer of the 1825 friendship treaty
with the United States Government. In most of the early accounts of
Crow life he is known as Long Hair for the extraordinary long locks
which were his medicine. Of them Lowie says: "In the early thirties
of the last century travellers noted the marvellous length of Chief
Long Hair's hair, which was estimated at from 9 ft. r i inches to 10 ft.
7 inches in length, which the wearer either carried under his arm or
within the folds of his robe, only loosening it on festive occasions"
(The Material Culture of the Crow Indians, p. 228).

On September 22, 1930, Major General Hugh L. Scott and Montana
House Representative Scott Leavitt were guests at a ceremony per-
formed by Plenty Coups and Max Big Man. After ceremonial smudg-
ing Plenty Coups unwrapped a medicine bundle and unrolled a lock
of Long Hair's hair measuring seventy-six hands and one inch in
length about 25 ft. 5 inches. Representative Leavitt wrote: "There
was no evidence of any joining together of various locks" (Linder-
man, Red Mother, pp. 254-256).

209

2. Wildschut says that the central object in this medicine bundle was a
stone of carved slate which One Child Woman, Sees The Living Bull's
wife, found about three miles south of the old agency, on Fishtail
Creek approximately twenty miles south of Columbus, Montana. The
carvings of faces as shown in Wildschut's field photograph are un-
questionably the work of some northwest coastal tribe; Wildschut
suggests the Haida (Crow Indian Medicine Bundles, pp. 105-110).

Grey Bull told Lowie of this medicine's reputation, and another of
Lowie's informants said that its owner had been instructed not to eat
tongue, an act which forbade its unveiling at the customary occasion
for the opening of rock medicines, The Singing Of The Cooked Meat.
After Medicine Crow was given the medicine from his stepfather he
followed this taboo (Religion of the Crow Indians, p. 389).

3. Among his list of ownership traits common to most plains tribes Ewers
gives: "Horses individually owned, private property," and "Owner
recognized his horses by their appearance and actions (no identifying
marks placed on the animal)." Wildschut must have meant a herd
composed of most of the horses owned by individuals in this village
(John C. Ewers, The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture, with Com-
parative Material from Other Western Tribes. Bureau of American
Ethnology, Bulletin 159. [Washington: Government Printing Office,
J 955] P- 3*3)-

Chapter Twenty -Five

i. Roe disagrees with such late use of dogs: "The Crow, while surrounded
on all sides by tribes that used the dog travois, within the nineteenth
century period covered by Lowie's informants and their immediate
ancestors, confined their dog transport exclusively to packing, although
they had formerly utilized the travois" (Frank Gilbert Roe, The
Indian and the Horse. [Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1955],
p. 19).

Chapter Twenty-Six

i. Pease Bottom was the site of Fort Pease, about eight miles northwest
of the mouth of the Bighorn River on the north bank of the Yellow-
stone River. Erected in June 1875 b 7 a trading party under the leader-
ship of F. D. Pease, a former agent of the Crows, it was abandoned
in March 1876 as a result of Sioux onslaughts.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

i. Plenty Coups told Wildschut a more detailed version of this disastrous
war party: "A Crow war party discovered a Sioux camp near the
210

present location of Forsyth, Montana. From this camp the Crows cap-
tured about 100 horses, but they were discovered by the enemy and
pursued. In the battle that followed two Crows were killed. They were
Chicken Feet and White-Spot-on-the-Neck, the brother and brother-
in-law of Big Shoulder.

"The Crows were camped on the Yellowstone near the site of Hunt-
ley when the returning war party reported the death of these young
men, Big Shoulder then went out on the prairie, and choosing a place
called Bear Home, a sharp rimrock about five miles north of present
Billings, began to fast. Here he stayed for about five days before he
received a vision."

In this dream Big Shoulder saw buffalo creatures playing shinny, an
Indian style of hockey, and his next war medicine consisted of the
balls and stick of this game (Crow Indian Medicine Bundles, pp. 54-
55)-

2. All the pipeholders' pipes collected by Wildschut have straight tu-
bular stone bowls instead of the T-shaped calumet-style bowl used
among the Sioux and other plains tribes (Ibid., pp. 162-163).

Chapter Twenty-Nine

i. A communique of the apparent unimportance of the one being deliv-
ered here would probably have gone unrecorded. But the camp which
so awed Two Leggings might have been that composed of the com-
bined forces of Generals Terry and Crook after their 4,000 troops met
on August n, 1876. In the words of General Nelson A. Miles: "We
continued our journey up the Rosebud and I reported my command
to Brigadier-General Terry. We formed part of our forces during the
two months following, and moved up the Rosebud, where General
Terry's troops joined those under Brigadier-General Crook. This
brought the two department commanders together with one of the
largest bodies of troops ever marshalled in that country" (Personal
Recollections and Observations of General Nelson A. Miles. [New
York: The Werner Company, 1897] PP- 215-216).

Chapter Thirty

i. Following the Custer massacre on June 25, 1876, Sitting Bull's forces
stayed at Grand River until they moved to Cedar Creek to confer
with General Nelson A. Miles, and afterwards to fight with him. Ves-
tal writes of his subsequent meanderings: "After the skirmish with
Bear Coat (Miles), Sitting Bull's mounted warriors easily ran away
from the walking soldiers, and the story went that Sitting Bull was
engaged in a 'mad flight' to the British Possessions. Canada lay two

211

hundred miles due north a matter of five or six sleeps for a man in
a hurry. Yet Sitting Bull did not arrive there until months later, May,
'77. In fact his flight was so 'mad,' that apparently he mistook his di-
rection, for he 'fled' southwest and was rambling up and down the
Yellowstone from the Big Horns to the Powder and eastward, most
of the winter" (Stanley Vestal, Sitting Bull, Champion of the Sioux.
[Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957], p. 206).

Sitting Bull did not return to the States until July 1881, when he
surrendered. If these were indeed his horses, Two Leggings and his
party must have made their haul early in the winter of 1876-77 and
not in the fall of 1897, as "three years after the battle of the Little
Bighorn" would indicate.

Chapter Thirty-One

. Wrote Agent E. P. Briscoe of these transportation facilities on May 10,
1888: "The military having possession of the desirable point of cross-
ing, have established a ferry, and there is much complaint from them
because they have to cross the Indians without pay" (Annual Report
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1888, p. 155).

. After its survey crew had been dogged by Sioux during their plotting
of the route in 1871-73, the Northern Pacific Railroad, its entire Mon-
tana segment running along the Yellowstone River, was finally com-
pleted in 1886.

. If one could be sure of Two Leggings' 1 888 date for these events, Fort
Custer's "Lump Nose" could possibly be identified as Colonel Nathan
A. M. Dudley, Commanding Officer of the First Cavalry.

212

^Appendix

Throughout my work on the manuscript I found myself forced to
separate Two Leggings' facts from Wildschut's, or Jasper Long's,
sometimes subjective interpretation of Crow life. Where something
specific was recorded and explained there was little problem in tight-
ening the passage: the unwrapping of a medicine bundle, the behavior
at a certain Sun Dance, a series of camp moves. But when Wildschut
attempted to evoke a mood, or to recreate Two Leggings' state of
mind, the distinction grew elusive. Usually I coped with this by min-
imizing, through grammatical constriction and word selection, the
inauthentic tone.

One question had to be settled immediately. If the manuscript had
been constructed to incorporate Crow literary principles, it would be
of primary importance to reconstruct these precisely. However, Rob-
ert Lowie, the anthropologist whose studies constitute the major body
of research on the tribe, tells how Crow narrative techniques can es-
cape the most assiduous linguist. Wildschut, not speaking Crow and
having no formal anthropological or linguistic training, could not have
been aware of the close attention the Crows paid to antithesis, paral-
lelism, repetition, hyperbole, soliloquy, rhetorical queries, and sym-
bolic expression. While I have carefully salvaged what traces of these
features remain, the absence of word-to-word translation rendered
futile the hope of preserving Crow storytelling style.

Some major changes were performed. Although I tried to parallel
Wildchut's sentence order, I transformed his first-person dialogues
into second-person exchanges.

Wildschut placed Four Dance's and Sees The Living Bull's stories
in an appendix. Since Two Leggings mentions how greatly such tales
influenced his actions, it was thought more effective to include them
where he heard them.

Into the manuscript's earlier chapters Wildschut interjected his

213

questions and Two Leggings' answers. Also, he included supplemen-
tary material in a handful of footnotes, within parentheses, and in
chapter prefaces which mostly contained unvarying descriptions of
the interview situation. All this information has been either woven
into the narrative, placed in the notes at the end of the text, or included
in the present general introduction and chapter prefaces.

Mrs. Taylor remembers that when Two Leggings sang the songs in
his narration, Wildschut requested literal translations. They have not
been altered.

The following extractions illustrate the rewriting procedure.

Description

Original pp. 395-96

Around its neck I had fastened a neck-
lace of rock swallow feathers with
small bells attached to it and a stuffed
hawk was also tied to this necklace.
When one watches the rock swal-
lows, it will be noticed how very
swiftly they fly, even when they are
thickly crowded together, yet they
never collide. They have a marvellous
ability to swerve. That same power
of dodging, even when closely pur-
sued by enemies, was represented by
the feather necklace attached to my
horse. The bells on the necklace rep-
resented the coming of a storm. When
closely pursued by enemies, I would
pray for a sudden storm to arise
which, striking between my pursuers
and myself, would retard their prog-
ress, thus giving me a chance to es-
cape. The hawk which hung from the
necklace was of a swift-flying species;
they also have long endurance, both
qualities I wanted to impart to my
horse by attaching the hawk to the
necklace.

Present Version, p. 170

Around its neck I fastened a necklace
of rock swallow feathers, small bells,
and a stuffed hawk. When you watch
rock swallows flying in a tight bunch
you never see them touch. This neck-
lace gave my horse that same power
to dodge if I was chased. The bells
meant a coming storm. If I was fol-
lowed by enemies I would pray for a
sudden storrn to come between us,
slowing them down. The hawk was
a fast high-flying kind that had long
endurance; I wanted those qualities
for my horse.

Original p. 404

We would probably have continued
our antics a little longer had not

Dialogue

Present Version, pp.

We would have kept it up if Crooked

Arm, the camp chief, had not ap-

Crooked Arm, Chief of our camp, ap-
proached. He apparently feared that
we would go too far and now carried
with him his uncovered medicine
pipe. He approached me and as he of-
fered it to me to smoke, he said:

"You who are all my children and
especially you, Two-Leggings, have
pity on us and smoke this pipe."

"Give him the pipe," I answered,
indicating Boils-His-Leggings, "and if
he accepts it, then will I smoke. It was
not my fault this happened; he did the
same to me first."

Boils-His-Leggings now spoke and
said:

"Why should I smoke that pipe?
Two-Leggings is a foolish man; he is
not a medicine man and from this
day on he will never again sing songs
of victory or kill any more enemies."

"What!" I answered, "you think
that you are a medicine man, that you
have enough power to prevent me
from killing any more enemies, you
who never had a dream yourself and
who had to obtain your medicine
from White-Fox. I will soon show
you that your power is nothing to
me."

peared, carrying his medicine pipe
uncovered. He invited us to smoke,
saying we were all his children, espe-
cially me, and asked us to have pity.

I would only take the pipe if Boils
His Leggings took it, since he had
started this. Then Boils His Leggings
said that I was foolish and not even a
medicine man. From now on, he said,
I would never sing victory songs or
kill any enemies.

I told him that he had never re-
ceived a dream and had had to buy
his medicine from White Fox. I prom-
ised to show him that his power was
nothing to me.

Mood

Original p. 218

This prayer completed, we all entered
the sweat lodge where our Chiefs
again prayed for us. After this cere-
mony, we all plunged in the river,
smoked for a while and talked over
the various events of the previous day.
Interesting details were added here
and there by the men who had battled
with our enemies, while many an act
of bravery and cunning was heartily
applauded by all of us. It was early
morning before I finally sought my
lodge again. I was tired but happy
and before entering my lodge, I

Present Version, p. $4

When we all entered a sweatbath the
chiefs prayed for us again. Afterward
we bathed in the river and then
smoked and talked over the day be-
fore, adding details and remembering
the brave things that were done. It
was early morning when I returned to
my tipi. All was still and the air was
warm. Before going in I looked up at
the sky, raised my arms, and prayed
for all the powerful beings above to
look at me. I told them I wanted to be
a chief. I asked them to give me a long
life and courage when I was in dan-

215

looked up in the sky. The air was
warm and no breath of wind stirred
the leaves of the trees. The stillness of
the night was only broken by the faint
noise of an occasional tired but happy
singer, singing his songs of victory or
love. My hands raised towards the
heavens above and looking at all that
was above me, I prayed:

"Oh, all you powerful beings above,
look at me. I want to be a brave; I
want to become a chief; give me long
life and health. Help me and protect
me and give me always courage in
whatever danger I may be, or which
may cross my path. Oh moon and
stars, I humbly ask your aid,"

ger. I asked the moon and stars for
their help.

Action

Original pp. 325-26

One of the Piegans had a splendid
horse, however, and soon rode well
ahead of the rest. I knew I could out-
run him, but on seeing him so far
ahead of his comrades, I decided to
play a trick on him and possibly kill
him. As the sun was travelling toward
its home in the west, we raced through
coulees and over hills, maintaining
about an even distance between my
foremost pursuer, but all the time in-
creasing the distance between him and
the rest of his band. At last I felt safe
in trying to ambush him and yet al-
low myself sufficient time to escape
from his companions. All I needed
was a suitable place to carry out my
plans. With this purpose in mind I
searched the country ahead of me. I
had descended into the dry bed of a
little creek and was urging my horse
down its crooked course. I passed
bend after bend but not one sharp
enough for my purpose. At last my
time came and I felt reasonably sure
that if successful in my plans, I could
mount and be on my way again long
216

Present Version, p. 139

One Piegan, riding a good horse, was
far ahead of his friends. I could out-
run him but decided to trick him. We
were galloping through coulees and
over hills, keeping an even distance
between us. But he kept pulling away
from his men. Then I entered the
course of a dry creek. After passing
many half bends I noticed a rocky
point that made the bed turn sharply.
Reining in on the other side, I tied
my horse to a tree and crouched be-
hind some bushes. As I strung my bow
and pulled an arrow back I could hear
his horse running on the dry stones.

before the rest of the Piegans were
within bowshot.

Some distance ahead of me I no-
ticed a sharp rocky abutment deflect-
ing the course of the creek so abruptly
that an almost right angle bend was
formed. To this spot I urged my
horse at topmost speed. Rounding it,
I suddenly reined in and dismounted.
Fortunately I found some gnarled
trees to which I tied my horse; they
also gave welcome protection to my-
self. My pursuer was not far behind
and I could plainly hear the sound of
his approaching horse.

With bow ready strung, I awaited
his approach, bent low behind the
shrubbery on the bank of the little
stream and a few feet above the river-
bed. Somehow I never even consid-
ered that I might be fighting a losing
battle.

The sound of the horse racing over
the pebbled bed of the stream warned
me of the immediate approach of my
enemy.

217

Index

Absaroke, xvi

American Heritage Book of Indians,
204

American Fur Company, xviii

American Museum of Natural His-
tory, So

Amos Two Leggings, xiv, xv, xxi

annuity goods from United States
Government, 177-178

Apache, 162

Arapahoes, xvii, xx, 109, 162

Arikaras, xx, 133

Arrow Creek (see also Pryor Creek),
20, 35, 61-62, 88, 101-104, 115-
116, 121-122, 126, 163, 188-189

Arrowhead Mountains (see also

Pryor Mountains), 19, 60, 101,
107-108, 115, 121, 126, 129, 189

Assiniboines, xvii, xx, 177

Atkinson, Henry, General, xix

Atsina, xvii, 29, 177

Bad Mountain, 56, 58, 64
Badger Creek, 175
Ballantine, 195
Bank, 12
Bannock, 184
Bear, 55
Bear Camp, 8

Bear Creek, 3, 12, 15, 99, 166
Bear Dance Song, 95-98
Bear Grease, 134
Bear In The \Vater, 109, 200
Bear Looks, 91-93
Bear Song Dance, 95
Bear Up Above, 8-9
Bear White Child legend, 6-10, 108,
199-200

218

Beartooth Range, xvii, 172
Bearpaw Mountains, xvii
Beaver, 79

Beckwourth, James, xviii
Bell Rock, 97
Belly Robe, 52
Belt Mountains, 71, 206
Big Belly clan, 66
Big Bird Above, 182
Big Boat, 17-18

Big Crane, 12, 6, 115, 118, 200
Big Lake, 125-126, 156, 159
Big Man, Max, 209

Big River (see also Missouri River),
i, 12, 18-19, 31, 42-43, 74, 80, 89,
9 2 ~93 95 nB, 153, 163, 169, 176,
189-190

Big Shoulder, 178-180, 211
Big Shoulder Creek, 85
Bighorn Mountains, xvii, 40, 62, 74,
88, 105, in, 156, 159, 167, 172,
189, 204

Bighorn River, xiii, xviii, i, 4, 19, 21,
30, 39, 44, 49, 62, 64-65, 85-87, 98,
104, 108, 121, 142, 167, 176, 186,
1 88, 193194, 204, 210, 212
Bighorn Valley, 30, 35, 189, 205
Billings, Montana, 35, 58-59, 103-104
Billings Gazette, xv
Bird Above AH The Mountains, 63
Bird Fire, 195
Bird Going Up, 146-147
Bird Has A Shirt, 145
Bird Home Mountains, 58-59, 211
Bird On The Prairie, 169
Black Buttes, 159
Black Canyon, 62, 88
Black Earth, 15

Black Hair, 168

Black Head, 3-4, 122-124

Black Hills, xvii

Black Lodges (see also River Crows),
74-75, 78, 89 ^

Black Lodges, xvii

Black Robes, 27

Blackfeet, xxi, 18, 29, 71, 162, 174-
175, 200-201

Blackfeet Raiders of the Northwest-
ern Plains, The, cited, 198, 200

Blood (Blackfeet band) , 200

Blue Creek, 103

Blue Handle, 56

Bob Tail Wolf, 12, 124, 126, 168-169

Boiling Waters, 29

Boils His Leggings, 124, 173-174, 215

Bozeman Trail, xvi, xviii, 204

Braided Tail, 134-135, 209, 212

Briscoe, E. P., Agent, 2 1 2

Bucket Leg, 150

Buffalo Calf, 195-196

Buffalo Heart Mountain, 68, 88, 126,
128, 156

buffalo hunts, 155

Buffalo Lump, 96-97

buffaloes:
herds of, 90, 156
hunting of, 19-20, 29-31, 33, 103,

155, 193
medicine songs for, 82, 87, 108, 157,

159
Bull Does Not Fall Down, xiii, 37, 56,

88, 98, 200
Bull Eye, 134-135
Bull Goes Hunting, xv, 73
Bull Mountains, 116, 121-123
Bull Shield, 81-83
Bull Water, 81
Bull Weasel, 1 19
Bull Well Known, 88
burials, 209

Burns Himself, 131, 145-146
Bushy Head, 40, 116-118
Bushy Pine Hill, KO

Camp, E.M., Agent, 177

Canada, 162, 192

cannibalism, 203

captives, 29

Cass, Lewis, Secretary of War, xix

Cedar Creek, 211

Chases The Enemy Wearing A

Coyote Hide On His Back, xiv~
xv

Cherry Hill, 150
Cheyennes, xvii, xx, 40-45, 106, 109,

III-H2, 121, 185, 208
Chicago Field Museum, 73
Chicken Feet, 211
Chicken Hawk Cap, 150
chiefs, 87
childbirth, i
Children Of The Large-Beaked Bird,

xvi

chokecherries, 74, 96, 98, 149, 163, 177
Chouteau, Pierre, xviii
clans, 17, 66, 199-200
Clear On The Forehead, 160, 163
Cody, 20-21, 39, 68, 74, 88
Cold Wind, 109-110, 208
Columbia Fur Company, xviii
Comanches, xx

Comes Out Of The Water, 51, 176
council of chiefs, 87
coups, 34
coupstick, 178

Covers Himself With The Grass, 62
Coyote, 101, 165, 178
Coyote's Penis, 101
Crane Goes To The Wind, 45
Crazy Dog, 49
Crazy Mountains, 58-59
Crazy Sister-In-Law, 52
Crazy Wolf, 146
Crook, George, General, 184, 211
Crooked Arm, 19, 43-47, 88, 98-103,
119, 121-122, 126, 128-129, 136,
142, 146, 173-174, 178, 201, 205,
214-215

Crooked River, 76
Crow Indians, The, cited, 198-202,

205-207

Crow Indian Beadwork, xiii
Croiv Indian Medicine Bundles, cited,
xiii, 108, 198-199, 202, 205, 209,
211
Crows (see also Mountain Crows;

River Crows):
burials of, 209

camp life of, xxi, 71, 136, 165, 204
ceremonials of, 22-23, 44, 47, 55, 95,

200

chiefs, 87

cultural traits of, 29, 39, 55, 66, 73
geographical names, 101

219

Crows (cont^)
as hunters and warriors, 29, 90,

105, 127, 162, 193, 203
Indian agency for, xiv, 85, 150
religion of, 23-24, 26-27, 202
trading post, xviii
as U.S. cavalry scouts, 184

Culbertson, Alexander, 204

Curley, 159, 176

Curtis, Edward S., xiv, xv, xvi, xxi,
198-202, 204

Custer, George A., General, 101, 133,

184, 211

Cuts The Turnip, 68, 145

Deaf Bull, xv

Deer River, 70, 74

de Smet, Pierre, xx

Denig, Edwin T., xvi, xxi, 198

Devil's Lake, xvi

Devil's Pocket, 98

Dipper Creek, 85

Dkt Creek, 132

Discovered Plant, 51

Dockstader, Frederick J,, Dr., xiv, xxi

Does Not Care For Women, 58

Does Not Turn Back, 14

dolls, Sun Dance, 44-45, 47, 49, 205,

207

dreams, 61, 116, 152, 166
Dry Creek, 163, 177
Dry Head Creek, 61
Dudley, Nathan A.M., Colonel, 212
Dwarf Buttes, 102

eagles, 34, 71, 74, 82-83, 125, 135, 151-

152, 159, 179. 194

Earth Lodges, xvii

Eats The Ear, 4-5

Elk River (see also Yellowstone
River), 1-3, 35, 49, 56, 58, 68, 78,
81, 94-95, 103-104, 106, 114, 121-
122, 144, 160, 165, 177, 179-180,

185, 1 88, 195

Elk River Valley, 20, 103, 172, 195
Ewers, John C., xiii, xvi, xxi, 198, 200,

2IO

Face Turned Round, 145-146, 152
farming, 188, 193
fasting, 23-27, 38, 88, 146
Female Face, 160
Fence, 195

220

Few, 124
Fire Wing, 109

First Worker, 23-24, 27, 39, 202-203
Fitzpatrick, Tom, xx
Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Mis-
souri, cited, xix
Flatt Butte, 180
Flathead, 29, 90-93, 95, 148
Flesh, 97

Fly Creek, 188, 195
Forsyth, 68, 184, 211
Fort Laramie Peace Commission, xx,

177
Forts:

Benton, 35, 174, 177, 204

Browning, 207

Cass, xviii

C, F. Smith, xv, xviii, 37, 104-105,
204

Custer, xiii, 30, 65, 193, 196*, 204, 212

Ellis, 177

Laramie, xx, 177

Maginniss, 201

Pease, 210

Peck, xv

Sarpy, xviii

Union, xix, i

Van Buren, xviii
Four, xiv, i
Four Dance, 58, 213
Fox warrior society, 152, 167-169, 171-
174, 208

gambling, 26

Gets A Shield, 176

Getting A Sword, 81-82

ghosts, 27

Gibbon, John, General, 73, 184

Goes Around All The Time, 73, 189,
205

Goes First, 124-126

Grass Lodges, xvii

Great Above Person, 30, 36, 46-47, 50,
53-54, 58, 62-64, 68, 74-75, 88, 90,
94, 100, 102, 1 06, 109, 113, 118,
121, 123-124, 128, 130, 135, 140,
144-145, 150, 158, 161, 169, 176,
179-182, 190

Great Falls, 136

Great Unmarried Man, in, 113-114

Grey Bull, 210

Grey Dog, 2, 19, 201

Gros Ventres, xvii, xx, 18, 35, 200,

208
Guadagno, Carmelo, xxi

Gun River, 18

Hairy Noses, xvii

Hairy Wolf, 83

Half Yellow Face, 20-21, 109-112, 133

Hardin, xvi, 19, 44, 49, 81, 188

Hard To Camp With, 31-32

Has A Red Feather On The Side Of

His Head (see also Long Hair),

148

Hawk High Up, 123, 208
Hawk Medicine, 208
He First Made All Things, 202
He That Mixes, 127
Head Of A Man, 97
Heart Mountain, 192
hermaphrodites, 83, 207
Hesitates, 146
Heye Foundation, xiii, xxi
Hidatsa, xvi, xix, 29, 95, 127, 200, 208
Hide Flesher Mountain, 177
High Hawk, 163-164, 170-171, 182
High Peak In The Middle, 119
Hillside, 169

His Eyes Are Dreamy, 115
Hits Herself, 115
Hits With The Arrows (see also

Pryor Gap), 88, 101, 121, 126
Holds By The Gun, 44, 58
Horse Creek, xx
Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture,

The, 210
horses, 33-34, 38, 40, 49, 85-86, 89, 95,

100, 105, 108, 120, 125, 176, 191,

210

Howard, Oliver, General, 29, 184
Hunkpapa (Sioux tribe) , xv
Huntley, 208, 211
Hunts The Enemy, 90-93, 108, 133-

142

Indian and the Horse, The, cited, 210
Indian Affairs, Bureau of, xix, 193
Indian Agency, 177, 188, 193
Interior, Department of the, 80
Iron Bull, 129, 209

Joseph, 29

Judith Basin, 201, 207

Kainah (Blackf eet band) , 200
Kelly, Luther S., 201
Kicked In The Bellies, xvii, 2, 201
Kind Hearted Old Man, 169
kinship, 17
Kiowas, 29
Knife River, xvi
Knows His Ground, 174

La Verendrye, Pierre G.V., xvii

land, cession of, 188

Laramie Peace Commission, xx

Larocque, Frangois, xviii

Leforge, Thomas H., xv, 201-202, 207

legends, xxi, 6, 24, 73, 199, 200

Lets The Women Stand, 15

Lewistown, 101

Lie In A Line, 32

Linderman, Frank Bird, xxi, 198, 201-
202, 205, 207, 209

Little Belt, 145

Little Bighorn River, xxi, 29, 37, 65,
85, 98, 105, 121, 167, 188, 204

Little Face, 145

Little Fire, 56

Little Heart, 137, 141, 168

Little Horse, 135

Little Rockies, 89, 163

Little Soldier Chief, 133

Little Tipi Creek, 156

Livingston, 56, 58, 177-178, 188

Lodges At The Extreme End, xvii

Long, Jasper, xxi, 213

Long Beard, 122

Long Hair (see also Has A Red Feath-
er On The Side Of His Head),
xviii, xix, 209

Long Horse, 2, 19, 201

Long Mountain, 9

Long Otter, 179-180, 183

Looking Glass, 29

Looks All Over The Earth, 63

Looks At A Bull's Penis, xv, 73

Lots Of Bear, 97

Loud Hawk, 125

Loud Sounding River, 76

love medicine, 165, 208

Lowie, Robert, xii, xv, xxi, 80, 198-
200, 202, 204, 206-207, 209, 213

Lump Nose, 196, 212

Lump wood warrior society, 49, 69,
143, 167-168, 173-174, 204* 2o8

221

Man Who Can Talk English, 128

Mandans, xvi, xvii, xix, 29, 200

Many Lodges, 2, 19, 78, 175

Many Tattoos, xvii

Marquis, Thomas B., Dr., xv, 198,

2OI-2O2, 207

marriage, 49, 74

Material Culture of the Crow Indian,

The, cited, 198, 200, 204, 206, 209
Maximilian, Prince, xviii
McGirl, Thomas, 122
McKenzie, Alexander, xviii
medicine, 39, 43, 99, no, 146, 172, 190,

194, 203-204
Medicine Arrow, 5
Medicine Bear, 81, 90
medicine bird, 122
medicine bundles, 29, 43, 87, 97, 108,

116, 149, 180, 204, 208, 210
Medicine Crow, 56-57, 62-65, 73. 75*

103-104, 174-175* 189-192, 210
Medicine Crow, Joseph, 199
Medicine Dream Buttes, 102
medicine dreams (see also visions) , 26,

51
medicine father, 52, 66, 144, 146, i5~

153, 165, 169, 179, 189
medicine men, 6, 23, 26, 71, 96, 119,

127, 150* J 59 2 9
Medicine Pipe, 95, 180
Medicine Porcupine, 107
medicine songs, 46, 51, 70-71, 77, 106,

124, 140, 163, 170-171, 182-183,

195

Medicine Thunder, 4
Meldrum, Robert, xix
Memoirs of a White Crow Indian,

cited, xvi, 201-202, 207
Menard, xvii

Miles, Nelson A., General, 184, 211
Miles City, 2

Missouri, xviii, xix, 206-207
Missouri Fur Company, xviii
Missouri River (see Big River)
Mitchell, D.D., Superintendent, xx
moon, 17, 25, 74, 94, 152 ^
Morgan, Lewis Henry, xix
Mountain Crows, xvii, xx, 128-129,

143-144, 155, 165, 177, 208
Mountain Lion's lodge, 114, 116-117,

121-122, 172, 188
Mouse Walks, 62
Muddy Creek, 78, 167

222

murder, 27, 44

Museum of the American Indian, xi,

xiii, xxi

Museum of Natural History, xll
Musselshell River, 12, 18, 31, 35, 49,

52, 56, 58, 64, 72, 74, 78, 97, 99,

101, II6-II7, 121, 123, 136, 153,
163, 165, 176-178, 189

Musselshell Valley, 163
myths, 24, 73, 200

name giving, i, 101, 115

Neck Bone, 131-132, 145-146

Never Dies, 135-136

Nez Perces, xvii, 29, 162, 184, 200, 208

No Fears, 128

No Horse, 207

No Vitals, xvi, xvii, 127

No Wife, xiv

North American Indian, The, cited,

xiv, xxl, 198-200, 204-206, 208
North Dakota, xvi, 120
Northern Pacific Railroad, 188, 212
Northwest Company, xviii
Not Dangerous, 149
Not Mixed clan, 66, 133

Of the Crow Nation, xviii
Old Alligator, 209
Old Baldy, 40

Old Dog, 93, 99, 115, 118, 128
Old Man Coyote, 25, 27, 202
Old Man Wolf, 7
Old Tobacco, 126
Old White Man, 169
Old Woman, 105

One Blue Bead, 122, 124-125, 181-182
One Child Woman, 210
One Eye, 6-10
One Fingered Bear, 85
One Leg, 194-196
One Up There In The Sky, 67, 194
One Who Owns The Camp, 87
One Who Owns The War Party, n
Onion, 81

Other Side Camp, 24-27, 58, 74, 116,
161

Painted Blanket Creek, 180-181
Paints His Body Red, 124, 170

Pale Face, 170

Park City, 59, 179-180

Passes All The Women, 58

Pease, Fellows D., 210

Pease Bottom, 165

pemmican, 96, 140

Pend d'Orieile, 133

Piegan (personal name), 41-42, 66-68,
77-78, 132-134, 136, 138-141

Piegans (Blackfeet band), xv, 6, 12-
19, 29, 31-39, 70, 76, 80, 88, 97,
99, 136, 138, 140, 174, 194-197, 200,
216

Pierced Noses, xvii

Pine Ridge Hills, 20, 35, 121, 194-195

pipeholder, u, 40, 52, 67-69, 71, 83-
84, 95, 99, 102, 104, 109, 116, 128,
133, 144, 150, I53~i54, *5<5, 165,
168, 174, 179-181, 194, 204, 2ii

Plain Face, 168

Plain Weasel, 15

Plenty Bear, 135, 136

Plenty Coups, 80, 199, 201, 204, 207,
209-210

Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crows,
cited, 201-202, 205, 207

Plenty Screeching Owl, 62

Plum Creek, 76, 78, 91, 116-118, 175,
192, 207

Poor Face, 109

Poor Lodges, xvii

Poor Wolf, 32

Porcupine Creek, 68, 165

Porcupine Hill, 134, 136

Powder River, 101, 149, 212

Pozash, 41-43

Prairie Gros Ventres, xvii

prayer, 24, 27, 46-47, 121, 132, 146,
151, 158, 179-180, 189

Pretty Face, 30

Pretty Hawk, 3-4

Pretty Old Man, 194-196

Pretty Tail, 182

Pryor Creek (see also Arrow Creek),
101

Pryor Gap (see also Hits With The
Arrows), 101

Pryor Mountains (see also Arrow-
head Mountains), 101

Puts Earth On Top Of His Head, 44-
45

Quaife, Milo M., 201

raids, 162

railroad, 188, 195, 212

Rattle Mountain, 69-71

Rawhide, 178

Red Bear, 2, 128, 151, 208

Red Cherry Creek, 34

Red Clay Woman, xiv

Red Cloud, 204

Red Coats, 18

Red Hail, 156

Red Lodge, 34, 43, 89

Red Mother, 209

Red Top Hill, 150

Religion of the Crow Indians, xv,

198-199, 210
Reno, Captain, 37, 133
reservations, 80, 155, 177, 188, 193, 196,

20 1, 204, 207

Rides The White Horse, 97
Rise Up, 32
River Crows (see also Black Lodges) ,

xvii, xix, 44, 128-129, 132-133, 144,

155, 162, 177, 188, 206-207
rock medicine, 28, 35, 95, 108, 132, 153,

204, 210
Rock Pile, 68

Rocky Mountain Fur Company, xviii
Roe, Frank Gilbert, 210
Rolls Himself, 15
Rosebud Creek Agency, 80
Rosebud River, xviii, 185, 188
Rotten Belly, xvii, xix
Rotten Grass Creek, 65, 85, 105, 167
Roundup, 117

sacrifices, 64

St. Xavier, Mission of, 36, 50, 128

scalping raids, 36, 38, 90, 93, 164-165,
168, 171-173, 196

Scar On The Mouth, 146

Scott, Hugh L., General, 209

scouting forays, 73, 149, 157, 184, 186

See Under, 128, 146

Sees The Living Bull, 61-63, 73-78,
88, 93-94* 104, 108, 114, 127-136,
142-146, 150, 162, 205, 213

Sends Him Home, 16

Sews His Guts, 35-36

Sharp Lance, 15-16

Shell On The Neck, 93, 107

Sheridan, in

Short Bull, 196

Short Horn, 21

223

Shoshoms, xvii, 20, 29, 148

Shot In The Arm, 122

Shot In The Face, 51

Shot In The Hand, 150

Shows His Face, 44-45, 47 8l

Shows His Tail, 62, 65

Shows His Wing, 12-14, 200

sign language, xiii, 77, 184

Simms, S. C., 73

Simonin, M., xx

Singing Of The Crooked Meat, 95

Sings To The Sweat Lodge, xiv

Sioux, xx, 29, 39, 67, 74, 81, 85-88,

IOO, IO2, I04-IO6, Il6, Il8, 122-

126, 145, 149, 164, 168, 170-172,
176-178, 182-188, 190-193, 196-

197, 201, 208

Sioux Dakota Reservation, 204

Sits Down, 57

Sits In The Middle Of The Land, xx,

19^ 35 73 97> 2GI
Sits Toward The Mountain, 169
Sitting Bull, 192, 211
Sitting Bull, Champion of the Sioux,

cited, 212

Skin On The Forehead, 102
Slayton, 78
Small Face, 131
Small Heart, 91
Small Sun, 97-98
smoke signals, 35
Snake Hill, 169-170
Snow Mountain, 59
Snowy Mountain, 19
Snowy Mountains, 35
Social Life of the Crow Indians, cited,

198-199

soldiers, United States, 185-186, 193
songs, 55

Son Of The Morning Star, 133
Sore Tail, 2

Spotted Horse, 20, 52-53* 185-186
Stands Among Them, 160
stars, 24-25, 141, 152
Starter Of All Things, 202
Stays Among The Birds, 15
Stays Among The Buffalo, 102
Stinking Water, 39
Stone Pile, 163
Stops, Roger, 199
storytelling, 22
Straight Calf, 171

224

Strap, 32-33

Striped Feather Arrows, xvu

Strikes At Different Camps, xiv, i

suicides, 27

Sully, A., Superintendent, 177

Sun, 25, 94, 104, 130, 152, 202

Sun Dance, 27, 29, 44-45, 47, 49-5*

52, 81, 84-85, 108-109, 201, 207,

213

Sun Dance bundle, 45, 108
Sun Dance doll, 45, 58, 81, 84, 205
Sun Dance lodge, 46, 81, 84
supplies, 156
sweat lodge, 27, 61, 64, 67-68, 70, 94,

99-100, 104, 118-119, 130-131, 144-

149, 162, 179, 203
Swordbearer incident, 184, 193

Taylor, Mrs, L.A., xiH, xxi

Ten Bear, 135, 138

Teton Sioux, xvii

Terry, Alfred H., General, 211

They That Cut Off Our Heads, xvii

They Who Refused The Paunch, xvi

Three Mountain, 89

Three Wolves, 40, 150

Thunderbird, 62-63, 124

Ties Up Her Bundle, xiv

Tobacco, 105, 143-145, 23i 2O 5
adoption dance, 143
Dance of, 128-129, 144, 175
society of, 66, 95, 127, 143

Toluca, 195

Tongue River, xviii, 88

trade, 76

transportation, 201, 210

Treacherous clan, 6

tribal alliances, 29

Trout Creek, 136

Trudeau, Jean Baptiste, xvii

Tullock Creek, 186

Twins, 76

Twists His Tail, 162

Two Belly, 12-14, 99-100, 103, 115,
118-122, 126, 128, 142, 146, 155-
162, 178, 184-186, 189

Two Leggings:

ambitions of, 55, 102
boyhood of, 1-2, 5-6, 61, 127
discrepancies of stories, 201, 206
early names of, 115, 118, 120, 127,
'33* 143

first coup of, 36

love life of, 49, 176

on pantheism, 22-23, 200

and United States Cavalry, 185, 212
Two Leggings Creek, 85-86
Two Stars, 174-175

Union Pacific Railroad, 188
Utes, xvii, 40

Vestal, Stanley, 212
visions, 49-50, 61, 64, 88, 99, 150, 153,
166

Walking Mouse, 56

Walks Toward The Two Mountains,

66

war bonnets, 185
war insignia, 34
war medicine bundles, no, 181
war parties, 39, 64, 69, 75, 78, 86, 89,

101, 116, 145, 153, 165, 168, 172,

189, 2O4, 2IO

Warm Water, 79

warrior societies, 6, 29, 49, 87, 133,

167

Washkie, 29
weapons, 35, 190, 194
Wears A Mustache, 42
Weasel Sits Down, 117, 178
West Hill, 150

Where The Bear Sits Down Moun-
tain, 99, 189

Where The Dog Bites, 169
Where The Gros Ventre Sun Dance

Tipi Stands, 169
Where The Lightning Strikes, 153,

162-163, 169

Where The Moccasin Hangs, 101
Where The Thunderbird Sits Down

Mountain, 62, 75, 88
Where The White Clay Is, 169
Where They Ran Away From Camp

Creek, 180-181

Where They See The Rope, 101
whiskey peddlers, 188
White Man Above In The Sky, 75,

146
Whistling Waters clan, i, 6-10, 73,

199

White Around The Edges, 76
White Buffalo, 14

White Child, 199

White Clay On The Forehead, 194

White Eye, 196

White Fox, 174

White From The Waist Up, 91-92

White Man Above In The Sky, 75,

146

White Man Runs Him, 101
White Mouth, 148
White On The Neck, 80-86, 211
White On The Side Of His Head,

J 9>74

White Swan, 133
Wildschut, William, xi, xiii, xxi, 22,

39, 61, 73, 80, 193, 198-204, 206-
^ 207, 210, 213

Williamson, H., Agent, 184, 193
Willow Creek, 99
Willow Top, 135
Wind River Shoshonis, 80
Wise Ones, 3, 6, 22, 32, 67-68, 121
Without Fires, 8, 24-26, 43, 46, 48, 55,

70

Wolf Bear, 104, 108-109, 168-171
Wolf Cap, 12
Wolf Chaser, xv, 2-3, 17, 19-20, 33,

43.45

Wolf Creek, 69
Wolf Goes To Drink, 21
Wolf Head, 40-41, 43
Wolf Mountains, 44, 88, 121, 168-169,

191

Wolf Runner, 64
Wolf Tail, 134
Woman Does Not Know Anything,

Woman Face, 163
Women Leggings, 58
Woody Creek, 35, 85, 98
Wraps Up His Tail, 184
Wrinkled Face, 89
Wyoming, xvii, xx, 39

Yanktonai (Sioux tribe) , xv
Yellow Bull, 200
Yellow Crane, 150
Yellow Legs, xvii
Yellow Weasel, 62
Yellow Willow Creek, 136, 142
Yellowstone Kelly, The Memoirs of
Luther S. Kelly, 201

225

Yellowstone Valley, i6z, 204, an

Rabbit, 6,

226

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